A Future Remolded
by nine miles to go
Summary: Chris managed to save Wyatt, but in doing so his little self got sent to an orphanage. What happens when the new nineyearold Chris meets the Halliwell family for the first time?
1. Haunting Dream

Disclaimer: Ah, the one thing on a fanfic that is most predictable...hah! "Disclaimer"?! More like brutal confession! I DON'T OWN CHARMED! There, ya happy? YOU'D BETTER BE!!  
  
((()))  
  
"Heads up, Chris!" called a boy, throwing a ball in Chris' direction. They were in an alley in the city, playing pass with three more of their friends. "Catch it!"  
  
"Huh? Oh!" Chris saw the ball coming and leapt to catch it just before it went past him. "Right back at you!" he yelled, throwing it back at the boy. The boy threw it to another one of the friends and they continued like this for a good fifteen minutes.  
  
There were five boys there; Chris was about nine and the others were about twelve or thirteen. Their clothes were all ragged and torn but they didn't seem to mind. It was about noon by the time that Chris interrupted what they were doing.  
  
"Okay, guys, it's about time for lunch," he said. "If we don't get back soon then Kerry will get mad." He was referring, of course, to the woman who ran the orphanage that they all lived in. Nice as she was, being late was a pet peeve of hers that no one enjoyed crossing.  
  
"Yeah, you're right," one of the oldest agreed, throwing the ball over to Chris. He caught it and they ran for several blocks or so, past a couple of clubs in San Francisco and to the shelter. They ran in before anybody noticed they were gone and took their seats at the lunch table.  
  
"Where were you?" a girl hissed in Chris' ear.  
  
"Playing catch with the other guys," he whispered back.  
  
The girl, who seemed about twelve as well, rolled her eyes. "One of these days you guys won't—"  
  
"Okay, you guys, is everyone at the table?" asked Kerry, coming in with a plate of sandwiches. Each of the kids hungrily grabbed one and started munching. "While you're eating, I have a special announcement to make."  
  
The kids groaned. They knew what was coming.  
  
"Oh, c'mon! I wouldn't give you guys away to a bad family. These people are coming tomorrow in the morning to just meet a few of you. No big deal. They don't even know if they want to adopt." She took another bowl of crackers and set that on the table, too. "I want you all on best behavior."  
  
"Yes, Kerry," they droned, causing her to grin.  
  
"C'mon, lighten up! It'll be fun!"  
  
Some of the older boys put their hands over their mouths and coughed something that vaguely sounded like "liar, liar" under their breath. The kids laughed, but Kerry put her hands on her hips.  
  
"I'm serious. Make a good impression. These people are very excited."  
  
Chris wasn't disappointed like all of the other kids were, though. He almost was excited too. Every time a family came looking for kids to adopt, there was a possibility that they'd choose him and they could finally get out of this dump. Not that he didn't like it here, it was just...he was ready for a change.  
  
The girl next to him seemed excited as well. So excited that she didn't notice she was tipping her cracker bowl right over Chris' lap—Chris threw his hands out to cover himself but the crackers never fell. He looked up in wonder.  
  
Everything in the room was frozen, like time had just stopped. This had happened before—he was used to it by now. Sometimes he moved things with his hands and other times he'd disappear in blue lights, but these strange things only happened maybe once a month or so. Well, might as well make it handy. He righted the bowl in the girl's hand so it wouldn't tip onto him and patiently waited for the scene to unfreeze.  
  
Maybe a half hour later the scene came back to life. Kerry looked at the clock. "Wow, time flies when you're making big announcements. Oh well. Everyone, there's going to be a rainstorm tonight so I want everybody home by six o'clock. Got it?"  
  
"Got it," they sighed.  
  
Chris hurriedly finished his lunch to go hang out with the other guys, but unfortunately the storm came earlier than predicted. It had started to rain by about one.  
  
"Darn it!" Chris exclaimed, watching the rain through the window. "It's not fair!"  
  
They sat inside playing checkers tournaments and reading the crumpled, faded books from the cabinet. By nine o'clock they were all pretty much bored to tears.  
  
"Bedtime, everyone," Kerry announced. They scrambled up to bed before anybody could protest, eager to end the boredom. She grinned. "Kids..."  
  
Chris felt that he couldn't sleep, though he heard the snores of everybody else in the room. A part of him was happy and a part of him was scared. He'd never been away from the orphanage in all his life; what if tomorrow he was wrenched away from everything he knew? He shook the thought aside. Kerry had said, after all, that she'd find them the right home. Kerry never lied.  
  
And besides, dozens of families had come in here before and overlooked him, going straight for the younger kids. What would be any different about tomorrow? Settled with that thought in mind, he rolled over in bed—and bit back a scream.  
  
There was a man hovering over his bed with light-brown hair and blue-ish eyes. Chris was surprised that he could see his features so well in the dark, but then he remembered that this was one of those weird little tricks he could do, like disappearing and freezing and moving stuff.  
  
"Who are you?" Chris demanded, jumping up bolt right in bed and not bothering to lower his voice. "What do you want?"  
  
"You can see me?!" the man gasped. "Oh, damn...Uh—"  
  
"Chris, what's wrong?" asked one of the boys groggily from the next bed. "Nightmares?"  
  
"No, there's a man in here! Look!"  
  
The boy looked to the side of Chris' bed, where Chris now saw the man backing up into the wall. "There's no one there, Chris. Go back to sleep, it was just a dream."  
  
"How can you not see him? He's right there!" Chris insisted, pointing. He was beginning to panic.  
  
"Are you okay?" the boy asked, concerned, as other children started to stir in their sleep.  
  
Chris looked back but the man had disappeared out of thin air. "Yes, but...but..." Frustrated tears lingered in his eyes for a moment but he brushed them away. "I could swear on my life that I just saw a man standing over my bed."  
  
"It's okay, Chris. It was just a dream. Now go back to sleep before everyone wakes up and gets hostile."  
  
"'Night, Sammy," Chris yawned, trying to believe his friend's reasoning.  
  
"'Night, Chris." Sammy flopped back down onto the pillow and gradually everyone went back to sleep. Chris stared at the ceiling, unable to rest. Who was that man? He was certain there'd been an intruder in the room. Maybe he'd come back. Chris shook in fear at the thought and eventually let his reeling mind lull him to sleep.  
  
((()))  
  
"Chris, get up!" Sammy shook Chris awake. "C'mon, they're coming..."  
  
"Who's coming?" Chris asked. He felt sick to his stomach, like he was dreading something, but he couldn't quite remember what. It wasn't a good feeling at all.  
  
"The family, you bonehead, remember?" Sammy pinched him hard on the shoulder and Chris yelped. "Are you awake now?" Sammy asked impatiently.  
  
"Yeah..." Chris grumbled, gingerly rubbing his arm. He got out of bed and suddenly felt lightheaded. Trying to steady himself, he put a hand on the bed and waited for the weird sensation to pass.  
  
"Are you okay, squirt?" asked Sammy.  
  
"Sure. Just, uh, nervous. You know," he lied.  
  
"Ah, don't sweat it. They'll probably just ignore us and head straight for the toddlers. No big," Sammy assured him, putting a comforting hand on Chris' shoulder. "We'd better get out there, though. Kerry's already made breakfast."  
  
"Right," he agreed vaguely. He threw on a sweater—it was suddenly a lot colder in here than it was last night. Probably because of the storm, he told himself. He walked into the dining room feeling slightly woozy and took a seat next to Sammy.  
  
"Dude, what's with the sweater? Are you TRYING to ward them away from you? It's, like, 80 degrees outside!" Sammy whispered harshly in his ear so the other kids wouldn't hear. (A/N—sorry for those of you that go by Celsius, I dunno that scale very well—this is Fahrenheit. But that's still kinda hot.)  
  
"It's cold," Chris shot back, shivering slightly. He was slightly annoyed that Sammy was bugging him, he was already starting to get a headache...he shivered again.  
  
Sammy was going to say something to him but he stopped, seeing that Kerry had rushed into the room. "You guys, they're here early. You can have breakfast when they leave, but right now you'd better be on your best behavior." She forced a smile. "Sit up straight and...oh, just—don't do anything stupid, okay?" She left the room.  
  
"They're coming," Sammy said nervously, tensing up and trying to look neat. Chris, however, remained slouched in his seat. He felt terrible. "Chris, didn't you hear her? They're—"  
  
"Kids, I'd like you to meet the Halliwells," said Kerry, using a sugary- sweet voice that was the exact opposite of her normally playfully, sporty sound. "They're looking for one of you to adopt, as you all know. They're going to need a tour of the place...any offers?"  
  
Of course, the oldest, a girl, stood and began to lead them out of the room, but they lingered. The family was a man, woman, and a boy a little younger than Sammy. Chris gulped, shuddering. The man looked just like the man from his "dream" last night. What if...?  
  
And the woman. She seemed so familiar. But why? There was something about the brown locks that surrounded her face...or maybe it was her eyes...it was SOMETHING...  
  
But right now was definitely not the time to wonder about it. His head seemed to be spinning. How could he be so nervous? They seemed nice, after all. He'd seen plenty of other creepier people come by. Why was he so shaky now?  
  
Then it hit him. Maybe it wasn't nerves...  
  
"Chris!" Sammy snapped. "The tour. We have to follow the rest of the kids to give them the tour! What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Nothing," Chris said defensively. He jumped up out of his seat and felt really dizzy again, but this time he ignored it. It didn't matter anyway. He just reassured himself again that these people would be gone soon and then he'd never have to deal with them after that. As soon as they were gone he could sit on the couch and rest for a while.  
  
He followed Sammy around d about half of the orphanage before he felt like his feet were cinder-blocks.  
  
"Chris, you don't look so good," said Sammy all of a sudden. "You're kinda pale. Should I go get Kerry?"  
  
"No, I'm fine," Chris insisted, trying to keep up with the pace of the rest of the group. Sammy ignored his response and put a hand to Chris' forehead.  
  
"I'm serious, you're burning up—"  
  
"I said I'M FINE," Chris said angrily, still trying to keep up. The room seemed to spin and he felt like the ground wasn't solid enough under his toes, like it may slip from beneath him. He felt worse and worse by the second, just trying to zone all the noise and activity around him out. Somebody was talking. He knew he should be listening, but...  
  
"We came here looking for a little boy..." the voice droned. Chris couldn't make out many of the words. He felt like he was sinking...and his knees hit the floor.  
  
"Chris!" Sammy exclaimed, kneeling down to help him. "Kerry, there's something wrong with—"  
  
Chris couldn't hear much more. It went completely black.  
  
((()))  
  
A/N—Okay, that was the first chappie. It's not going to be much like my other story...no Bianca this time, and I kind of limited the friends at the orphanage so there wouldn't be many names to remember. Just Sammy and Kerry...they're the only people I'm going to introduce from there. All the others are nameless.  
  
Hope you liked it! R&R! 


	2. Explaining Lies

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't care. Only need my Drew to survive...  
  
((()))  
  
"Chris..." A man walked into a bedroom where a wounded older boy lay dying and wounded. The man rushed over to him. There was a woman standing at the doorframe, already crying, as tears threatened to fall down the man's cheeks.  
  
"Hey..." the boy greeted him weakly.  
  
"It's okay, I'm here now, I'm here. You just hold on, okay? Just hold on, don't you dare give up..." He seemed like he may burst into sobs, knowing that saving this boy was hopeless.  
  
"You either." The boy takes a last shuddering breath and is obviously dead. The woman lets out a sob from the corner and the man holds to the boy's body, crying himself. Just then the body of the boy disappeared.  
  
((()))  
  
Chris jolted awake but found that he remained lying on a bed. The bed wasn't his...where was he? He tried to look around him but he was too weak. Something was holding him back. When he tried to see what it was, all he saw was white. White walls, white sheets, white everything. It wasn't at all familiar too him, but maybe he was still dreaming.  
  
If he was still dreaming, it would finally be something different then the dream about the boy dying. He'd had that dream once a week since he was about four—but wait—the man, the crying man. That was the same man that came looking to adopt this morning, and the same one he'd dreamed about last night. He felt a flash of sympathy for whoever the man was. Obviously he was sad.  
  
"It must be demonic. They can't get any explanation for what's happening to him," said a female voice. Chris turned his head slightly and realized that there were tubes all around him. He looked up and saw "Emergency Care Unit" in big, bold letters—and then it hit him.  
  
He most definitely wasn't in the orphanage anymore.  
  
"I agree that it could be demonic, Paige, but really, what are we supposed to do? Leo can't heal anymore, that power was stripped of him nine years back. And we certainly can't go up to the doctors and explain the mystery saying that a demon did it!" The speaker, also a woman, was the closest to him. He could see a flash of really short dark brown hair but the rest of his vision of them was limited.  
  
"Pheebs..." another woman that sounded more familiar to Chris than the others spoke. "I never wanted this to happen. Once Chris died we all promised he'd have a better future—now look what's happened to him! He risked everything to save Wyatt, only to screw everything up for himself..."  
  
"Piper, it's not your fault," the woman closest soothed her. "It's not your fault or Leo's or anybody's. It's those stupid damn elders. There was nothing we could've done. Besides, now that we've found him, we can give him that better life he fought for."  
  
"If he doesn't die first," the familiar woman sobbed.  
  
Chris froze in fear. Were they talking about him, or some other Chris? He didn't understand. Who were these people? They seemed to be talking about two Chrises—one that died and one that was...one that was dying. But he couldn't be dying. He didn't feel like he was dying, and for some reason he was pretty sure that he knew what dying felt like. After all those dreams and everything, how could he avoid knowing?  
  
There must have been another Chris. This was all a mistake. These people weren't supposed to be in the room with him.  
  
He tried to open his mouth and say, "What's going on?" but all that came out was a cough. The three women were at his side in an instant, hovering over the bed.  
  
The first one that spoke—Paige, he thought—had an orangey-yellow color of hair, obviously dyed. The second, the one that was closer, had short black hair. The last of the trio was the woman at the orphanage, the one that seemed so familiar to him.  
  
"Chris..." said the last one. She gulped back tears.  
  
"I'm going to get a doctor and tell them he woke up," announced Paige, hurriedly leaving the room.  
  
"What...?" Chris managed to say.  
  
"Don't try to talk," said the black-haired one, concern in her voice. "You've been out like a light for a while there. You scared us all!"  
  
He wanted to scream, these people were frustrating him so much! He just wanted them to either explain themselves or get the hell out of here! Where was he, anyways? Tears sprang in his eyes but he couldn't brush them away, his muscles seemed way too weak. What was happening?  
  
"Ack!" one of them exclaimed out of nowhere. "Okay, I get it, you want answers. We can't give any to you yet...not until they make sure you're okay."  
  
The one that seemed so familiar—Piper, he thought he heard the other one say—ran a hand through his hair soothingly. He couldn't flinch if he had tried, but he didn't want to. Something about her seemed comforting...like he knew he shouldn't be afraid. He felt like he knew her.  
  
The other woman left the room abruptly.  
  
Piper sighed. "I am so, so sorry baby..."  
  
His mind was reeling. What was she so sorry about? It's not like she did whatever had happened to him. That brought him to another thought...what exactly had happened to him? He felt dead-exhausted. His body ached. He felt like he hadn't eaten and slept in days...he just felt miserable.  
  
A man in a white uniform came in, looking him over. "Can you talk?"  
  
Chris tried to speak but all that came out was an inaudible squeak. His throat hurt, too. He shook his head instead.  
  
He turned to Piper. "Are you his guardian?"  
  
"Ye—no. No, I'm not. He's an orphan."  
  
Where's Sammy? He thought. Why am I here?  
  
The doctor nodded. "I'll inform them of his current condition. You'll watch him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The doctor nodded in response, face solemn, and left the room. Paige and Piper were now by his side now and basically driving him up the wall. WHO WERE THEY?!  
  
"Chill!" cried a voice—Phoebe—from the corner of the room. "Sorry. Getting lots and lots of empathic and telepathic vibes from him..."  
  
"Pheebs, why don't you leave the room?" Piper suggested. "This could be a bit much."  
  
"Alright. Hang in there, Chris," she said before leaving.  
  
Piper sighed again. Tears formed in her eyes and she tried to hide it, but Chris saw. "Chris...this isn't easy, okay? I—we—never meant for any of this to happen. You're not an orphan. You're...my son."  
  
Her SON? Now she was talking crazy! He'd been an orphan ever since he could remember. Besides, if she was his mother, why was he abandoned? He couldn't trust her, flat out. But...he wanted to. He felt himself give in. He was believing her.  
  
She was choking back sobs now. "You're not normal, honey. But I...I wanted you to be..." She was crying too hard to go on.  
  
Paige started to back her up. "Chris, what she means is that you're a witch," she said bluntly. "You have magical powers. Have you ever done anything weird—something you can't explain?"  
  
Chris nodded weakly and tried to hold up a hand to show her, but his arm raised an inch or two before flopping back down at his side. Finally, someone understood what was going on. The freezing, the traveling, the moving objects, the seeing in the dark...someone else knew.  
  
"You don't have to show us. You must be really tired right now...I can imagine. You collapsed and you've been in a coma for three days now. We were all so worried..."  
  
Piper stopped crying, indicating that she was ready to say more. "We never meant to give you up. Before you were born, another boy named Chris that was in his twenties came from the future. Your biological brother—my other son, Wyatt—was evil in his future, and this Chris came to save him from becoming that way. He died for his cause, but he succeeded. Wyatt was saved...but it came at a price."  
  
He wanted to ask what she meant. He wanted to ask why she was telling him this. All he wanted to do was sleep...  
  
"After Wyatt was saved, the elders—magical beings that control things that happen down on earth—thought that the threats of the evil weren't quite over. They decided that since Wyatt wouldn't turn evil in this timeline, YOU would—because you're his brother. I know you may not understand this...time travel is so tricky...but honey, you are that Chris. Just in a different timeline. We're all in a different timeline than the one that died."  
  
Chris was just barely taking in what she was saying. His eyelids drooped, he was too sleepy to be in shock. But he understood her. He'd always been smart for his age. He nodded, telling her to keep going.  
  
"It doesn't make much sense, and it's not fair. It's not fair at all...and there is nothing I can do to ever make this up to you. They—they made us—I'm sorry, I can't..."  
  
Paige gave Piper a sympathetic look and finished the story. "It's hard for her, Chris," she explained. "She loved you more than anything. You hardly left her sight for the first three weeks of your life..." Her sad face turned to one of bitter rage. "The elders thought that since Wyatt wouldn't turn evil, it would create a reverse effect and YOU would be evil. They kidnapped you right out of the manor...God, we put up a fight...But in the end they got away." She had to stop now because she was crying too.  
  
"Just remember this, Chris: You never did anything wrong, and we love you more than you can imagine. We've been looking for you for nine years..."  
  
He couldn't help it. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, the image of Piper—his mother?—fresh in his mind.  
  
((()))  
  
They were in the streets of San Francisco, and utter chaos surrounded everything. Buildings lit afire, people running for their lives, gunshots, energy balls, black arrows; screams, blood...death. Chris wanted to wake up but he couldn't pull himself out of the dream. He was watching the madness from afar, as if he was merely an unharmed witness separated from the mayhem.  
  
He let out a wail. People were dropping dead on the streets. There were people—witches, he assumed—trying to fend off whatever evil force was coming through, maybe twenty or so of them. He saw the three women from before were among them, and they all seemed to be adults except for one little boy in the front, moving things with his hands and throwing them.  
  
"Stop, Wyatt, stop!" he was pleading. Chris couldn't make out his face. "Please! Don't do this! You're killing all of these people!"  
  
An energy ball came from the evil force and shot the child down. Chris ran up to him, immune to the weapons. What was going on? Was this the horrible future with Wyatt as its ruler that Piper was talking about?  
  
He finally reached the boy and looked at his bloody face, only to see the exact mirror image of himself. He screamed as his body was slowly being pulled and merging with the wounded boy's. He couldn't stop it...His clone's pain and thoughts and distress were suddenly his own...All he wanted was for Wyatt to stop and his mom to rescue him...  
  
((()))  
  
"Mommy!" he woke up screaming. He wasn't in the hospital bed anymore, somebody was carrying him. He looked up and saw the man from before, but he knew he shouldn't scream. The man was looking down at him with the same intense green eyes as Chris. Was this man his...?  
  
"What happened?" he asked, his voice suddenly regained. He felt better. Nothing hurt anymore.  
  
"We used magic to heal you, buddy," the man exclaimed. Chris liked the sound of his voice, too. It was reassuring. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Good...How'd you...?"  
  
"I'm a whitelighter. That means I'm supposed to take care of witches." He looked like there was something he was about to add but he said something else. "My name is Leo. Sorry if I gave you a shock in your room a couple of nights ago—you weren't supposed to see me."  
  
"A couple of nights ago? How long have I...?"  
  
"A while. You scared us. It was a demon—a bad guy—that did that to you. He poisoned something you ate." Leo set Chris down on a bed. "Chris...there's something I should tell you. I'm...Chris, you met Piper, right? Your mother?"  
  
Chris nodded, surveying his surroundings. There were two beds in the room, he was sitting on one. It looked like a kid's room, with blue walls and books and model airplanes.  
  
"Chris, look at me for a moment."  
  
Chris complied, looking over at the man. He wasn't afraid like he had been before.  
  
"Chris, I'm your father. Piper's husband."  
  
Chris looked up at the man and wished that he couldn't talk again. That would give him an excuse not to say anything. Right now he was at a loss for words...Why were they doing this to him? Couldn't they just leave him alone? He shifted uncomfortably. If they were his parents, why had they abandoned him? Why would they just come and get him now?  
  
Leo pulled him into a hug and Chris felt compelled to hug him back. Once he was released, he searched for something—ANYTHING—in the room that looked familiar. Everything was so foreign. He'd lived in the shelter all his life...where was he now?  
  
"Um...where am I? When are we going back to the shelter?" he asked. "Where's Sammy?"  
  
Leo flinched and made a quick blink over at the corner of the room. Chris leaned in to see what he was staring at and was quite taken aback.  
  
His backpack was at the door of the room. 


	3. Fixing Powers

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Charmed, but wishes --SOB-- don't often come true, apparently...  
  
"Take me back," he said suddenly. "Take me back to the shelter. I don't belong here!" He sprang up from the bed and made a wild dash for his life, running through the halls—and he found that he got lost. This place had a million twists and turns, it was much bigger than the orphanage. He spotted a set of stairs and ran.  
  
The man appeared in a flurry of twinkling blue lights, guarding the door and blocking his only escape. "Please, listen to me—"  
  
"Listen to you?! I don't even KNOW you! Leave me alone, you can't do this to me! I live somewhere else!"  
  
"Calm down—"  
  
"Not until you take me back!"  
  
"Please, Chris, you have to trust me—"  
  
"How can you expect me to trust you when you're a complete stranger?" he spat.  
  
That one seemed to be like a slap in the face to Leo. "I know you're scared and I know that this has to be hard—"  
  
"No, it doesn't have to be hard. You can take me back to my home and pretend this never happened. That would be quite easy!"  
  
"You'll die if you go back there!" Leo finally shouted, getting his attention. "You're in danger. Now that we've found you, demons can track your location. You're a target. Without us to protect you, you could die."  
  
Chris looked him straight in the eye, his stubborn will not allowing him to give up this fight. "Then let's just see what happens," he growled. He tried to push Leo out of his way and head for the door but Leo held him back. Enraged and terrified, Chris struggled out of his grasp and threw his hands up.  
  
Leo froze. Chris sighed in relief and pried himself out of the man's arms.  
  
This man, his father? It could be true. After all that had happened, Chris was open to accepting more freakish news. But just because this guy claimed to be his dad didn't give him any right to kidnap him. Justifying his actions with that last thought, Chris opened the door hesitantly and ran out to the sidewalk.  
  
It was a sunny day, like it normally was in spring. He started walking along the pavement, not quite sure where he was going. Where was this place? It was a quiet neighborhood with clean-cut lawns and big two-story houses. He never remembered stumbling upon a street quite like this one...  
  
After a few aimless blocks, he found himself in front of a school. He was completely lost. He plopped onto a bench in frustration.  
  
Then an idea hit him...he could use his powers. He closed his eyes and imagined Sammy in his head. "I want to go to Sammy, I want to go to—"  
  
Nothing happened. He groaned and stomped his foot. "Stupid magic..."  
  
RING!  
  
Kids started swarming out of the classrooms, eagerly running towards buses and cars. Chris couldn't make out faces, they were all running so quickly. Every time he tried to catch their attention they ignored him, running like made just to get to their buses. Chris finally lost patience. He threw his hands up in defeat, plopping back down on the bench, and was very surprised at first when there was no noise coming from the excited crowd.  
  
He looked up and saw them all frozen. "Damn it, here we go again!" he exclaimed angrily. Wait—there were footsteps running towards him. He looked up and saw the blonde boy—Wyatt, presumably—from before. A chill went up his spine, remembering the dream...but he knew that the dream wasn't in this lifetime.  
  
"What the—What do you think your doing, kid?" Wyatt demanded, surveying the parking lot.  
  
Chris sank down miserably on the bench. "It happens sometimes," he mumbled. "Wyatt, right?"  
  
"Yeah. And you must be...Chris. Nice to meet you...again."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Sometimes in these dreams..." Wyatt shook his head, shuddering.  
  
"I know what you mean," Chris said suddenly. "I have weird dreams all the time—this week being the most active."  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Wyatt all of a sudden. "I mean, I guess that dad healed you, but why are you at my school? Shouldn't you be at the manor?"  
  
"THAT'S what you call that place? Look, dude, your family is nice and everything...but I just don't belong with them."  
  
Wyatt forced back a laugh. "Well, from what I'm seeing right here, you NEED them." Wyatt sat down next to Chris and put a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't going to be easy, Chris, but I can help you. You have to trust us. It's the only way you can grow into and learn to control your powers. We've been waiting to find you for a long time."  
  
Chris knew that he could trust this kid just like he could trust the others. Something told him that they all had good intentions...but was he really willing to give up everything he'd ever known to excel in life as a freak? 'There's no avoiding it,' said a voice in his head. 'You have to do this. Trust them, stay with them...it's for survival now.'  
  
He didn't understand why it was survival at stake, but a sudden chill ran up his spine. "I'll go with you," he blurted. "But...how long do I have to stay?"  
  
Wyatt's eyes turned wistful. "Chris, you can't go back to the shelter. They think you're dead." Chris was going to open his mouth and say something back, but Wyatt spoke first. "When you were at the hospital, your heart stopped beating for a good eight minutes. Everybody thought you were dead, even us for a moment there. The doctors gave up...which gave my dad—a whitelighter, but I guess he explained that—the perfect opportunity to come in and heal you before it was too late."  
  
"You mean...but I didn't feel it. I didn't feel anything like dying."  
  
"You were asleep through the whole thing...in a way that nobody could wake you up."  
  
"I know what it's like to die," he said before he could stop himself. Wyatt looked at him quizzically so Chris explained. "Well, not really, but I have these dreams...I've never died in them before, but I've been on the verge of death, you know?" Wyatt nodded. "There's even a dream that I have most often where this boy keeps dying and your dad—and my dad, I guess—is very sad. Same with that Paige woman. I met her in the hospital."  
  
"You don't seem at all shocked for a person that just found out about magic," Wyatt joked after a pause.  
  
Chris shrugged. "Weird things have happened. Dreams, these creepy powers, waking up to find people standing over my bed...I always expected that one day there'd be an explanation, so here it is."  
  
"Yeah. I have those dreams too, but I'm never dying. I'm always winning, but in a sick way...I'm evil. It's the worst! But it doesn't happen that often, only when I feel really guilty about something...and then I fess up." He grinned half-heartedly. "What are your powers?"  
  
"Well, this weird traveling thing, for one."  
  
"It must be orbing. That's dad's kind of magic—I have that one too," said Wyatt. "Anything else?"  
  
Chris nodded and laughed. "The freezing thing. That's been a little out of control lately."  
  
"Yeah...mom has that one too," Wyatt told him, grinning widely and watching the still frozen children. "Go on."  
  
"I can move things with my hands, but only sometimes."  
  
"Telekinesis," Wyatt explained. "Aunt Paige has different but similar power like that, only it's half-whitelighter."  
  
"Wow...she's your aunt? I mean, our aunt? Same with Phoebe?" Wyatt nodded. "Geez, this is one big family."  
  
"Well, there's little Mel, too," said Wyatt. "Phoebe's daughter. She just turned four."  
  
"We have a cousin, too? This is so cool...Oh yeah, and another power is this weird night vision thing. I can see people in the dark. Weird, but handy I guess."  
  
"Yeah...nobody in the family has that yet. I can orb and do telekinesis like you, but my other powers are astral projection—" His head went down and another clone of himself appeared, at which point he grinned and returned to his body. "—and energy balls. But we can't use them here. Okay, 'lil bro,' first lesson in magic. How to unfreeze people."  
  
"You can do that?"  
  
"Sure. Apparently you haven't learned how...Flick your wrists at them again and picture the scene moving again."  
  
Chris flicked his wrists as Wyatt told him to, but nothing happened.  
  
"It's okay, you never get it on the first try. I've heard lots of funny stories about when mom and the aunts first got their powers. Try it again, but this time really envision the scene just as it was right before it froze. The noise, the movements, the emotion—"  
  
"Uh, Wyatt?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"If I'm s'posed to do that, you may wanna move back to where you were before the people froze."  
  
"Oh, right." Wyatt blushed and ran over to the side of a bus about twenty feet away. "Go for it, Chris!" he yelled back.  
  
Chris nodded and closed his eyes, picturing everything as it just was...the excited faces, people whirring past, so caught up in the rush that they don't even hear the little boy calling them. He flicked his wrists and jumped in surprise, the noise suddenly coming back to life at full force.  
  
"You did it!" Wyatt exclaimed, running back up to Chris. "Alright, normally I walk home, but under the circumstances..." He took Chris by the hand and pulled him through the crowd, into a deserted corner. "Hold on tight, Chris."  
  
"Why—?"  
  
A flurry of blue lights encased them, a feeling that Chris could remember slightly from a long time ago...  
  
((()))  
  
A young Chris, perhaps a toddler of about three, ran through a very busy San Francisco. Terror was apparent on his face as he fled. Occasionally he glanced over his shoulder. This man was chasing him and he was completely lost. "Sammy!" he called. "Kerry! Help!"  
  
Nobody among the crowd of tourists and busy workers heard his desperate pleas. He looked back again and saw the man still close behind, being swallowed by a crowd...in desperation, he ran into an alley to catch his breath, his heart pounding in fear.  
  
"There you are," the man growled, coming out of nowhere. He grabbed Chris by the arm, twisting it hard when he struggled. "I need to collect my bounty!"  
  
Chris tried harder to escape and the man threw him hard against the brick alley wall with an invisible force. 'I wanna go home...,' he thought. 'I have to get away from this man...'  
  
The blue lights took him away.  
  
((()))  
  
"Chris, we're here," Wyatt announced. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah, fine." They were in the foyer and they both burst out laughing, seeing Leo still frozen. Apparently the sisters hadn't found him yet.  
  
"Can you do it?" asked Wyatt.  
  
Chris closed his eyes and imagined Leo springing back to life. He flicked his wrists.  
  
"Chris!" Leo called out. He saw Wyatt and Chris a couple feet away suppressing giggles.  
  
"Did you—?" Leo's confusion shook off and he laughed too. "How'd this happen?"  
  
"I found him outside of school. He froze the whole place!" Wyatt exclaimed. "He learned how to unfreeze them, though, so it's okay. No one saw."  
  
"Why'd you run off like that?" asked Leo, walking over to them. Chris shrunk away from him, staying close to Wyatt. "Somebody—namely the elders—could've found you..." Leo winced, hurt that Chris was scared by him.  
  
"He's fine, dad. Nothing happened."  
  
"Alright...just...don't leave the manor from now on. Wyatt, why don't you take Chris up to your guys' room so he can get settled? I'll go talk to your mother."  
  
"Okay. C'mon, Chris, it's up here," said Wyatt, bounding up the stairs. Chris followed.  
  
Wyatt opened the door, looked inside, and quickly slammed it. "Uh, MOM? DAD?"  
  
"What is it?" asked Chris.  
  
There was a loud booming noise from the room.  
  
"Nothing," Wyatt gulped.  
  
((()))  
  
A/N—CLIFFIES! SO SUE ME! 


	4. Stalker Demon

Disclaimer: When I own Charmed, I'll let you all know. Trust me.  
  
((()))  
  
"What is it? asked Leo, orbing in. Wyatt pointed at the door.  
  
"Uh-oh...PIPER?! Where are you?" Leo called up to the attic.  
  
"Leo, you're home!" Piper exclaimed. She looked a mess coming down the stairs, her eyes stained with tears and her hair standing up on end. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Chris. A part of her wanted to wrap him into a hug, relieved that he was alive. Tears sprang to her eyes anew, smiling—and then she gaped at her husband. "You—Leo, we can get arrested, it's kidnap—"  
  
"We're his parents!" Leo protested.  
  
"We have no proof," Piper sobbed. She rushed down the steps and swept Wyatt and Chris into a hug. "My two boys, together," she choked. "Oh my god, I've always hoped..."  
  
"Don't worry, Piper," said Leo softly. "They won't suspect anything. They think he's dead."  
  
"Um, mom? I enjoy the whole family reunion thing going on here, really, but we've got bigger problems on our hands at the present time!!" Wyatt gasped through his mother's fierce grip.  
  
BAM!  
  
Piper released the two boys, opening the door to the boy's room. She gasped. "Um, Wyatt, why don't you go show Chris all of your toys in the attic?"  
  
"But I don't have any—oh. Okay. C'mon, Chris. That's what mommy always says when she wants us to leave."  
  
Chris laughed nervously as they headed up. The boys' door crept open, and Chris looked back—and stared straight into the eyes of a man. This wasn't a normal man, it was...the man who had called him his "bounty" all those years ago, on the city streets. This memory, for the second time that day, flooded his thoughts until it overwhelmed his mind.  
  
Orbing was one way to remind him...seeing his enemy was quite another.  
  
"Chris, c'mon!" Wyatt tugged at his arm and practically dragged him up the stairs. He shut the door behind them and locked it. "Chris, are you okay? What happened, did he do something to you?"  
  
Chris shook his head. "He wants me," he whispered, "the man downstairs. I've seen him before. I've barely escaped from him before."  
  
"What?"  
  
"When I was really little, the first time I orbed, the man was chasing me. He called me his bounty, he was trying to hurt me, or something. Wyatt, he's going to get me. That's what he wants."  
  
"No he's not! We're here to protect you, Chris. Don't worry about anything, okay? You're safe with us. That's why we took you in. Nothing will happen to you."  
  
There cam another loud bang from downstairs, and by the squeals coming from the foyer, it was apparent that the aunts had joined the demon frenzy.  
  
"I'm scared, Wyatt."  
  
"Don't be. Nothing's going to happen to anyone. Anyways, if he comes up here, we can just—"  
  
The door swung open and Chris screamed. The blue lights swarmed all around him, the spinning sensation making him sick...He landed with a thud.  
  
"Wyatt?" he asked weakly, not daring to open his eyes. Finally he opened them—and screamed again. He was on top of a bridge—the Golden Gate Bridge to be exact, hundreds of feet up in the air from the roaring cars below. Any instant now he could teeter off the edge...  
  
He grabbed a pillar for support and burst out in angry, frightened sobs, trying to will himself to orb back. Nothing happened. He must have orbed here on his own by mistake. "WYATT! Where are you?" He clutched the pillar harder. It was so big that his little arms couldn't get a good hold on it, and it kept slipping out from under him. "Help, somebody!"  
  
Eventually they'd realize he was gone, right? Today was so confusing. He'd been kidnapped by strangers—his "family," supposedly—and now a strange man wanted to kidnap him, too. What next? All he wanted to do was go back to the orphanage, where he belonged. It'd be about dinner time now...Nothing abnormal would happen...  
  
As if.  
  
He clenched his eyes closed tightly, refusing to look down as he cried. He was slipping, slipping, he was going to die, he knew it...  
  
"Chris?!" Leo called a few minutes later. He ran out to Chris and pulled him into a protective hug, blocking him from the wind. "It's okay, you're okay. What happened, buddy? How'd you get here?"  
  
Chris was still shaking too hard to respond. He buried his face in Leo's shoulder, relieved that somebody had come to save him. Leo hugged him tighter, also relieved that he'd come in time. "You're going to be fine," he promised Chris.  
  
When Chris opened his eyes again, he was in the attic again.  
  
"Thank goodness!" Piper exclaimed when she saw them. There were still tears in her eyes. "We couldn't find you. Wyatt just came back, he's downstairs trying to see if you orbed down there by mistake..." Once Leo let go of him, she hugged Chris too. "You're alive. I can't believe it, after all of these years, you're alive...I thought I'd never get to see my baby grown-up..."  
  
"Piper, you're suffocating him!" Phoebe protested. "Besides, it's my turn! He's our nephew too!"  
  
Phoebe and Paige—his aunts now—swooped him into an even bigger hug. "You orbed!" Paige congratulated him.  
  
Chris gave her a shaky smile, not so sure that it was exactly an accomplishment.  
  
"Sure it is," said Phoebe out of nowhere. "Telepathy," she explained. "I can read people's minds. Be careful what you think!"  
  
Chris would laugh, but that was kind of creepy...and an invasion of personal space.  
  
"I know, isn't it cool?" asked Phoebe.  
  
"Hey!" said Chris, grinning. "No fair!"  
  
"Did you find him?" asked Wyatt from down the stairs. "Chris!" he said happily, seeing him in the attic. "You're back! Where'd you go?"  
  
"Um, a bridge..."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"He was on the Golden Gate Bridge," Leo told him. He seemed deep in thought. Little did his sons know, he was wondering about a time ten years ago, when a boy from the future used to orb to that spot for comfort and peace. Was there a connection between the two lives, though they were in different times? There must be.  
  
"Where did the man go?" asked Chris suddenly.  
  
Piper twitched. "What man?"  
  
"The man in Wyatt's room. I saw him. He wants me, doesn't he?"  
  
There was a slight pause in the room.  
  
"I know why he was here," Chris insisted.  
  
"He didn't want you, he was just a demon," Piper lied. "He got away, but he's not coming back, don't worry."  
  
"That's what I thought the first time I saw him. He will come back. He always does..." Chris shivered. The first time he'd seen the man, he was maybe four, but there were several times after that that the man would appear in a dream, see him on a street corner...Chris was scared to be alone while he was around. He was constantly living his life in fear.  
  
"He called you his bounty?" asked Phoebe, after reading his mind.  
  
"Yes. He called me that every time he came. Whenever I saw him, I learned that I had these new abilities...Orbing was the first. And telekinesis, like Wyatt called it. And there were others..." Chris gulped. "He'll come back. Trust me. I don't want you guys to be in danger..." The small boy looked at them desperately.  
  
"We'll vanquish him, don't worry about a thing," Piper assured him. "We have potions for that. How about you guys go into your new room now? It's safe."  
  
The boys exchanged a knowing glance and left the attic.  
  
Piper seemed pale with fright. "If this demon really is after him, then he knows we've been reunited. That means that..."  
  
"The elders know, too," Phoebe finished.  
  
((()))  
  
"Where's all your stuff?" asked Wyatt.  
  
"Right here." Chris pointed to the door, indicating the little red backpack with his name scribbled in Sharpie pen.  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"Yeah. We all shared our toys at the shelter, basically, so we owned pretty little. Hey, I wanna show you something," said Chris excitedly. He unzipped the pack and retrieved a blue baby blanket. Once it was unfolded, he revealed a symbol sewn into the corner.  
  
"The Halliwell crest," said Wyatt. "The elders must have let you keep it when you were kidnapped."  
  
Chris flinched. There was that word again: kidnap.  
  
"I saw it on the wall of your attic, written in chalk," said Chris.  
  
"Yeah, that used to be a time portal. Did mom tell you about your past self coming from the future, or do you only remember the dreams?"  
  
"Piper—mom—told me in the hospital."  
  
"Oh. It's weird, hearing the stories. About you, I mean. I'd never met you, but I felt like I knew you. At least this 23-year-old you from the future. Creepy, huh? I was so curious about it at first. She told everything to me about a year ago...from your first appearance in the past to the day you died."  
  
"That's why I know death." Chris sighed. "There are just some things that we can never forget, I guess."  
  
"Yeah." They sat in silence. "What else is in there?"  
  
Chris dumped the bag. "This is my lucky rock," he said, holding up a pink stone. "I found it on the beach. And these are pressed flowers—nine of them. We get one for Christmas every year at the shelter. Kerry makes them. This is a box full of baby teeth...Don't open it, it's gross. And the rest of the stuff is my clothes."  
  
"These are yours?" Wyatt picked up the stuff out of the bag. It was all old, torn, and way too big for Chris—just like the clothes he had on now. "You can borrow some of mine."  
  
"Why? I like those."  
  
"You can't go to school in them...they're too big."  
  
"They're Sammy's," Chris retorted.  
  
"Here, I have some clothes from when I was your age. You can try them on. Just for school, if you really want to keep your old clothes." Wyatt fished around in his drawers until he found a couple shirts and jeans. He held them up to Chris and his face fell. Chris was too small for those, too; he was skinnier than Wyatt was and the pants wouldn't stay on without a belt.  
  
"School ends in like, a week, Wyatt," Chris tried to reason.  
  
"What about summer camp?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Summer camp," Wyatt repeated. "You know. My parents send me there for a week every summer. They'll probably sign you up, too."  
  
"I've never been to summer camp before!" Chris exclaimed excitedly.  
  
"It's really fun. Maybe we'll end up in the same cabin! But we'll have to get you some clothes and stuff before we go. I can't imagine that those clothes would last you a week."  
  
Chris fidgeted with his feet. This whole conversation of his belongings made him a bit uncomfortable, but instead of showing it, he mumbled, "Okay."  
  
"Wyatt! Time for Magic School!"  
  
"Magic what?" Chris asked.  
  
"Oh, I forgot it was Friday!" Wyatt squealed, grabbing a book bag and stuffing notebooks and a rhyming dictionary in it. "You can come too. It's a class for magical beings, like us. You have to orb with my dad to get there, though. I'm not skilled enough to orb there on my own."  
  
"Wait—you want me to come with you?"  
  
Wyatt gave him a strange look. "Duh!"  
  
"But I don't know anything about magic!"  
  
"Neither does half the class. Relax," Wyatt assured him. "Besides, we're both witch-whitelighters with the same kind of powers. If you need any help, I'll be there."  
  
Chris wasn't too sure of what to do, so he just followed Wyatt down the stairs. Piper handed him a bag like Wyatt's.  
  
"It has notebooks and pencils for taking notes," she explained. "I don't think you'll need them yet, but you never know. Are you sure you want to go?"  
  
Chris didn't think he had much of a choice in the matter, considering the bag was already packed. "Um, yeah."  
  
"Okay, take my hands," said Leo.  
  
The three of them orbed into a regal looking classroom with polished wood and intricate fixtures. It looked more like a rich person's mansion than a class room, complete with a fireplace and mantle. But there were ten or twelve chairs all in a semi-circle around a teacher's desk, with several kids sitting in them. A teacher approached them.  
  
"Paige!" Chris exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Paige laughed. "I'm the teacher. But you have to call me Ms. Halliwell, okay?"  
  
"Okay..."  
  
((()))  
  
So, how's that chappie? Hope you liked it! R&R! 


	5. Bully Confrontation

Disclaimer: Don't be fooled...Looks can be deceiving...For all you know, I'm supreme ruler of the world...Heh. Yeah, right. Okay, I don't own Charmed! What's it to ya?  
  
((()))  
  
"Why is she the teacher?" Chris whispered as he and Wyatt took their seats in the classroom semi-circle.  
  
"Because she is," Wyatt answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I dunno. She's been a teacher for as long as I can remember. Anyways, pay attention. Class is going to start—"  
  
"Hello, kids," Paige greeted them. "Is everyone here?" She scanned the room and all of the seats appeared to be full. "Alright. Today I'm very proud to announce that we have a new student, Chris Ha—Christopher Perry. He comes from, um, Seattle. Isn't that right, Christopher?"  
  
Chris nodded, giving her an awkward look. Perry was his middle name. Why didn't she say Halliwell?  
  
Then it occurred to him. The elders. They could be right here in this very building. Why the hell did they take him here if insane elders were around? He could get caught! And he couldn't go back to the orphanage, they thought he was dead! Where would he go? What would they do to him? Kill him?  
  
"I said, Christopher, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself," Paige repeated.  
  
The class gawked at him like he was an alien. He blushed, realizing he was still wearing his baggy hand-me-downs and that he had about four day's worth of dirt all over him. "Um, I like to play catch..." He said lamely. "And Wyatt and I are friends."  
  
"Got any family history on ya?" challenged a boy about Wyatt's age.  
  
"Uh, not that I know of," Chris said truthfully. "I'm a witch," he offered.  
  
"How can you not know your own history?" piped a girl his age.  
  
He shrugged. "No one ever told me..." He turned to Paige desperately, pleading with her to interrupt. She understood the cue.  
  
"No speaking out in class. I'm sure you can all wait to ask Christopher his questions until after class."  
  
Blech. He hated the name "Christopher" but he supposed the elders wouldn't suspect that he was the scrawny little orphan that they'd ditched at a shelter nine years ago if he had a "proper" name. He'd go with it.  
  
"Who wants to take the test first?" asked Paige.  
  
"Test? What test?" Chris panicked.  
  
"Don't worry, we do it every semester. It's not a thing you study for...you practice for it. It's like a standardized test in school. She tests all of your abilities ever semester and grades them on how well you improve. She can't give you a grade yet—not at least until your second assessment."  
  
Chris didn't feel comforted by this fact in the least bit. He fidgeted with his pockets as a boy—the first one to question him—stepped up and pompously strode into a back room with Paige.  
  
"Behave yourselves," Paige warned them all before closing the door.  
  
"You'll do fine! It's not like you're going to hurt yourself!" Wyatt laughed. He was quickly silenced by a ear-shattering "BAM!" from the next room. He added shakily, "Unless you're that kid. That's Herman. He's...too powerful for his own good."  
  
Herman stepped out of the room, his pride still as valiant as ever. "Beat that, Halliwell," he sneered, passing Wyatt. He cocked an eyebrow at Chris. "Is that scum the best you can do?"  
  
"Chris is not scum!" Wyatt defended.  
  
The boy chuckled with an air of superiority. A small crowd of children had surrounded them, watching. "Then what should we call him? Sludge? Slime?"  
  
"Wyatt, your turn!" Paige called, trying to break up the fight. "C'mon, let's get going..."  
  
Chris' stomach lurched as the door slammed. Wyatt was gone. He knew Paige was only trying to make it better, but without Wyatt, he had no means of protection from all these other creeps...  
  
"Creeps? You're calling US creeps?" retorted a scrappy looking boy in the back of the room. He clenched his fists and raised them up to Chris threateningly. "I'll show you a creep!"  
  
"I didn't call you—"  
  
"You thought it," the boy contradicted.  
  
"Let's teach him a lesson," Herman sneered. His hand rose, and so did Chris. He was dangling in the air, a few feet above the ground.  
  
He'd dealt with bullies like this before. Scared though he was, he wouldn't let them have the satisfaction of knowing it. He glanced involuntarily at the telepath that had harassed him. Could he...? Chris tried to scramble his thoughts. What if this boy found out about his past? That he was just an orphan, a target, thought to be dead and now on the run from bounty hunters and elders?  
  
The telepath's fierce, angry look fell. He looked at Chris, a new emotion flickering in his eyes...Chris would've tried to figure out what it was, but the door clicked open and he was abruptly thrown onto the floor.  
  
"What just happened?" asked Paige, walking over to Chris.  
  
"N-nothing," Chris lied. "They were just—" He winced. "Showing me how to levitate, that's all."  
  
Paige knew better. She wouldn't buy it, but she knew that she had no choice to. She could easily see the betrayed, pained look in his eyes and felt horrible that he didn't trust her enough to tell her the truth.  
  
"Ignore them," Wyatt whispered in his ear. "Oh, it's your turn, by the way."  
  
"How did you do?"  
  
"A minus," said Wyatt happily.  
  
"Good job!"  
  
"Thanks," said Wyatt, "now you go and do your best, alright?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Are you ready?" asked Paige. She led Chris into a room, sympathizing the trembling boy. But what could she do? She was merely a teacher now, not his aunt. This was Magic School. She'd ask when they got back to the manor.  
  
"Show me what you can do," she told him.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You remember those strange powers, don't you? Can you show them to me?" she asked gently. "It's okay if you can't, but try."  
  
"Okay." Chris shut his eyes tightly and thought, 'Orb, orb, orb...' He envisioned himself leaving the ground and orbing to the corner of the room. The blue lights surrounded him and he squeaked in surprise, only to land on his feet again in the exact same spot. "I...I usually have to be scared if I want to go somewhere," he admitted.  
  
"Don't worry, that's how it always is on your first couple of tries. You'll get the hang of it," she assured him encouragingly. She wrote some notes down on her desk. "Anything else?"  
  
Chris gulped. "Yeah." He focused on a little toy merry-go-round music box that was playing music and spinning slowly on top of Paige's desk. He flicked his wrists with a jerk and it froze. He grinned. "I did it..."  
  
"Yeah, good job! That was great!" She scribbled on her notepad again, grinning widely. "Now, can you unfreeze it?"  
  
"Um..." 'Remember what Wyatt told you,' he thought to himself. Closing his eyes and picturing the little miniature ponies springing back to life along with the dorky song, he flicked his wrists again. The song played and the carousel went on.  
  
"Awesome! That's way better than I'd have expected, considering you have no magical training!" She continued to write. Chris fidgeted. "That's all, right? I mean, that was extraordinary..."  
  
"There's more," he said shakily. He couldn't believe that anybody could be happy about his weirdness. But he knew what he'd do next...Telekinesis, Wyatt had called it. Now...what to levitate?  
  
"Um, give me a moment, please," he requested nervously.  
  
"Sure. Take your time."  
  
Chris stared at a book on the shelf as hard as he could. He felt like his eyes were searing with flame, concentrating on its mass and willing it to fly into his arms...A moment later he could feel its heavy weight in his arms and he gasped.  
  
"How can you...? You're only..." She shook her head, laughing. "I guess being separated from the magical world all your life didn't have much effect! You're just as advanced as anyone your age! And with some training, you'll be even better...You'll be ready to fight demons with us in no time."  
  
"Heh."  
  
"I know, bug whoop," laughed Paige, rolling her eyes. "Hey, can you call in Tom Cameron? Thanks."  
  
Chris was about to open the door when he turned back to Paige, who was finishing with her notes. "Uh, P—Ms. Halliwell?" he asked timidly. "There's another power."  
  
"What? Really?"  
  
"Yeah. I can...see things," he said lamely. "Like, in the dark. Things I'm not supposed to see, you know? Like one time Leo was standing over my bed and I saw him, but no one else could. And once I even used my eyes like binoculars and zeroed in on Sammy buying candy about a mile away from me. It's strange."  
  
"I've never heard of that power before," Paige marveled. She looked at him thoughtfully. "You're a pretty amazing kid, you know that? I didn't expect you to know how to do anything. It took me years to discover my powers."  
  
Chris blushed, smiling slightly. Maybe living with these people wouldn't be so bad after all...  
  
"Um, Tom Cameron, it's your turn," he announced timidly. Then all of his worries came sinking back. The bullies...They were coming closer to him. What was he going to do?  
  
"Chris, come over here!" called a voice. Wyatt shoved his way through the crowd and past Herman. "Back off, alright?"  
  
"We were just trying to make nice with our new little friend!" Herman exclaimed indignantly, pretending to be disgusted with Wyatt's accusation. "Isn't that right, Phil?" He draped a shoulder over the telepath boy. The telepath shrugged away.  
  
"I need to practice," he mumbled. He looked down at the floor and walked over to his pack, beginning to read. Herman looked over at his partner but quickly diverted his attention to the scrawny Chris.  
  
"What, did you fail your pass? Is that why you're shaking?"  
  
"I'm not shaking," Chris lied. "You should be, though." What the hell was he saying? He couldn't take this kid on! He must be three times his size!  
  
"Is that a threat, punk?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
Wyatt tried to pull Chris' arm back, but Chris wouldn't budge, frozen and locked in the gaze of the bully. "Chris..." he warned him. "Don't—"  
  
"I asked you a question. Answer!" Herman boomed.  
  
"I don't have to answer to you!" Chris retorted, feeling proud for using one of Sammy's lines for once. It was exhilarating, standing up for himself instead of Sammy doing it for him...Oops. Here came the downfall.  
  
"Actually, it seems you have no choice," said Herman maliciously. A ball of fire appeared in his hands.  
  
"Wyatt, what is that?" Chris asked, his voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"DUCK!" Wyatt screamed.  
  
Chris ducked, juts as Wyatt had said, but his sleeve got scorched. He squeaked and looked at his arm to see a bleeding gash. Tears collected in his eyes but he didn't let them fall. He didn't even move. All he did was straighten himself and stare at Herman straight in the eye, ignoring the blood dripping down his arm.  
  
"Is that all you've got?" he asked as the door clicked open and Paige came in. Chris picked up a book and pretended to be reading so Paige wouldn't see his burn.  
  
Herman didn't dare speak to him for the rest of class.  
  
Chris' arm was throbbing with pain by the time he put down the book and class ended. The class stared at him, expecting him to tell on them all, but he only stared right back.  
  
"Dad can heal that for you! Why didn't you tell Aunt Paige? Chris, you're hurt!"  
  
Chris didn't answer. He didn't want to face his brother after he'd done something stupid.  
  
"It wasn't your fault, Chris—Herman's just a big bully. Are you sure you're okay?"  
  
"I'm sure," he lied. In truth, his arm was numb to everything but intense pain that shot through him every time he moved.  
  
He picked up his book bag gingerly and saw a piece of paper slip on the ground out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"What's that?" asked Wyatt softly.  
  
Chris shrugged; then regretted doing so with a wince. He picked it up and surveyed it for a moment.  
  
It read in hasty handwriting:  
  
Meet me outside of class tomorrow when the bell rings. Don't bring Wyatt.  
  
"Nothing," Chris lied.  
  
((()))  
  
R&R, please! Buh-bye! Me go to sleep now... 


	6. Meeting Mel

Disclaimer: If I told you I owned Charmed, would you believe me? NO DUH YOU WOULDN'T!! Lol. I don't, for the record. Lol.

((()))

"We have to wait here for Aunt Paige," Wyatt explained, sliding onto the floor by the classroom door. Chris remained standing. He didn't hear Wyatt, his thoughts were a little preoccupied with the note that he'd slipped into his pocket. What did it mean? Was that boy threatening him again?

"Chris?"

"Uh, right." Chris sat down next to him.

Wyatt gasped. "Chris, that's really bleeding. You're hurt bad. Just please, tell Aunt Paige...She knows how to heal..."

"I'm not telling them!" said Chris indignantly. After years in the orphanage, he was pretty sure of this fact: Never include adults in anything, they'll make a big deal out of nothing. Besides, how awkward would it be? He just got here and they basically knew nothing about him. What would they think, that he was a troublemaker and a tattletale, so weak and babyish that he had to ask an adult to heal him? Nuh-uh. "And you won't either. Please?" he added.

"I have to tell them!"

"Please, Wyatt...They'll think..."

"They'll be happy to know that you're healed and safe."

"I am safe. It only hurts a little," he lied vaguely, still sidetracked by the thought of the note. Suddenly a bright light surrounded his arm. Wyatt jumped back in surprise and Chris squealed.

The pain was subsiding in his arm and the burn disappeared. His shirt was no longer stained with blood and it looked as if the wound had never been there in the first place.

"Did you do that?!" Chris exclaimed, gawking as the light faded off his arm.

"N-no—I can't heal yet, they won't train me until I'm thirteen!" Wyatt yelped. "Do you know how advanced that magic is? You just healed yourself!"

"What's this talk of advanced magic?" asked Paige, coming out of the room. "What is all the commotion? You two alright?"

"Chris—just—"

Chris glared at Wyatt but Wyatt didn't notice.

"Chris just healed himself!" Wyatt blurted. Then he realized his mistake when he got an awkward look from Paige. "That bully Herman sent a fireball at him and Chris just healed himself! It was amazing, it just happened—"

"He did WHAT to you?!" Paige screamed. She leaned over Chris, checking for burns.

"It was an, um, accident," Chris lied.

"No it wasn't! That kid really hurt him, Aunt Paige, he just doesn't—" Wyatt paused, then lightened up. "You should've seen it. He shouldn't even be learning about healing for four more years!"

"Chris..." Paige said softly, crouching down to their level. "Why...why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't important."

"It's important to me, Chris. And to your parents and Phoebe."

Chris wanted to scream, "I barely know them!" but instead, he mumbled, "It just...doesn't matter, okay?" He stood, pulling away from Paige. "Why are you making a big deal out of nothing?" He could almost feel his cheeks turning red.

"It's not nothing. You were hurt. I...don't know why you wouldn't tell us...if you were..."

"I want to go home," Chris burst. It came out of nowhere, but it was true. He was so unfamiliar with this place. All he wanted to do was go to the orphanage and stay there. He'd wake up and Sammy would be shaking him. It would all be a bad dream...

"That's where we're going," Paige assured him. "And your parents will hear about this."

"No, I mean that I want to go home! Where I belong! At the orphanage!" Chris couldn't help it. He broke down in angry sobs. "I don't...I...I can't..."

Paige leaned in and hugged him. "I know this is hard. It was hard for me, too. I didn't even know I had sisters until my early twenties when Prue died, and suddenly I was thrown into this magical world with demons and powers and sisters...or in your case, brother. It'll be alright. It'll get better. I know." She held him for a minute or so before releasing him. "Are you ready to go back to the manor?"

Chris nodded, wiping away the last of his tears. "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"Don't be sorry. You didn't do anything wrong." Paige glanced worriedly down at the child. The nephew she'd never known. He was strong, she could tell. And stubborn. But what if something worse happened, and he didn't heal? What if he never told her? She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be ripped from everything you knew at nine years old. She was at least an adult. She could make a decision on her own, but...he had no choice. And she still had her friends in an outside world of magic. Now Chris had no one. They all thought he was dead.

"Let's go." She grabbed both Chris' and Wyatt's hand and for the first time, it felt so...complete orbing home.

((()))

"How was your first day of Magic School?" asked Piper, taking their bags with a big grin on her face. The grin faltered when she saw the remnants of what she thought were tears on Chris' face, but he grinned back.

"Great," he lied. "Fantastic! I made some new friends!"

"That's great! Wyatt, why don't you and Chris go play in your room? I'll make some dinner."

"Okay," said Wyatt hesitantly, pulling Chris by the arm up the stairs.

"What happened?" asked Piper the instant the two boys were gone. She looked at Paige's sorrowful stare and knew immediately that something was wrong.

"It's not as bad as you think," Paige blurted before she could think of what to say.

"What?" said Phoebe. She had apparently arrived with her daughter. "Run along, Mel...go play with your cousins."

Mel looked at her quizzically, wondering why she said "cousins" rather than "cousin," but, being four years old, she didn't look into it much. She wandered up the stairs as well.

"What's not as bad as we think?" repeated Phoebe.

"I don't know, we're waiting for Paige to tell us," Piper snapped.

"Calm down..." said Leo. "They're fine, right?" he asked Paige.

"They're fine now," Paige assured them before beginning. "It's complicated. You know that we were testing today, right? It's not about the testing," she added quickly. "It was about the other kids. Let's just say that Chris didn't exactly look the part for typical Magic School student in those oversized hand-me-downs."

"I—I didn't realize—" Piper stuttered.

"Does this mean I can go shopping for him?" Phoebe asked. She didn't get an answer.

"What happened?" asked Leo.

"That Herman kid. You know, the big one with his friend, Phil? He spotted Chris right away and I couldn't do anything since we were testing. I don't know what happened. They were bullying him and Wyatt, but when I got distracted Chris got burned pretty badly by one of Herman's fireballs."

"You healed him, right?!" demanded Piper.

"But that's just the thing!" she exclaimed. "I didn't heal him, he healed himself!"

There was an awkward silence in the room. "He—he healed himself?" Leo managed, gaping at Paige as if she was speaking Gibberish.

Paige nodded. "According to Wyatt, that is. And Chris didn't deny it, and there as at least half a class of witnesses...though none of them would admit to seeing Herman bully someone..." She shuddered. "The point is, he could've been seriously hurt and he was planning not to tell us. He was going to hide it. And he's pretty damn good at it, too."

"He's a Halliwell," Phoebe said, shaking her head in regret. "No doubt about that."

"Unfortunately," Piper said under her breath.

"Um, Paige, just wondering...how did they boys' tests go?" asked Leo.

"Wyatt's was normal—slight advance in his powers, as it should be. Chris..." She paused. "Well, let's just say that the kid's got a lot of powers on his hands."

"What do you mean?" asked Leo, eyes narrowing. "Is something wrong with him?"

"No!" Paige exclaimed. "He's fine. Uh-oh, there's a teacher meeting...I, uh, gotta go now."

"Paige—" Leo was cut off by her quick orb away. He sighed.

((()))

Mel sat down on the ground, next to Wyatt. She looked up at the stranger. In most circumstances, she would've greeted him with, "Hullo, I'm Mel. Are you Wyatt's friend?" but there was something captivating about this boy that made her hold her tongue.

"Mel, this is Chris," said Wyatt, before she could open her mouth. "He's my brother."

Mel laughed out loud at that. "Nuh-uh," she whined. "Don't be stupid, silly!" She giggled.

Chris grinned. "Cute," he laughed, "real cute."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Mel, I'm dead serious. This is Chris. Remember when we said we were looking for a little boy about my age? This is him. We found him. He's your cousin and my brother."

She giggled again. "Okay, I'll play too! This is my sister," she said happily, clutching the stuffed animal she'd brought along.

Wyatt shrugged. "Close enough," he muttered, grinning as well.

"Lalala," Mel sang, completely ignoring them now. She was running a finger through her hair, looking in the mirror. "I want to be a princess," she giggled. "Hey, Wyatt, let's go get some cookies!"

"The grown-ups are downstairs talking in the kitchen. I wouldn't go right now if I were you. How about later, alright?"

She pouted. "Puh-LEAZ?"

"Hey Mel, how about we play hide-and-go-seek?" Chris suggested.

"Yay!" she exclaimed. "Me hide, me hide! You guys count!"

"Okay, but here's the deal: You can't go downstairs, alright?"

"Alright."

"Now, we're going to count."

"Close your eyes," Mel accused, eyes narrowing.

"Right." Wyatt and Chris closed their eyes, facing the wall. "One...two...three...four..."

"Count all the way to a minute!" Mel reminded them before fleeing out through the door. She ran out through the hallway and looked into the attic. "Perfect," she beamed. "They didn't say not to hide upstairs, did they?" She grinned and walked up the stairs.

"Fifty-six...fifty-seven...fifty-eight...fifty-nine...sixty!" They finished.

"Ready or not, here we come!" Wyatt called.

Just then there was a shriek from the attic. Chris and Wyatt exchanged looks before racing up to go see what was going on.

((()))

Lol...


	7. Under Tables

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just me, myself, and my sick, twisted mind. Drew is a part of the last one!!

"Don't go up there," Wyatt ordered.

"Why?" Chris pressed.

Wyatt gave a glare. "Don't you remember? The bounty-hunter! The one that's after you!"

Chris glared back. He had forgotten. Was that such a crime? Besides, what did that have to do with...Wait. The demon—it was in the attic with Mel!

"Mom! Dad!" Wyatt called loudly. He nodded at Chris and orbed to the attic.

"What's going on?" asked Piper, halfway up the stairs.

"Demon, in the attic," Chris explained.

"It's the bounty-hunter!" Wyatt screamed.

"Damn it, we haven't finished the potion yet," Phoebe swore, following Piper. It was apparent that Leo had already orbed to the attic because he orbed in next to Chris with Mel in his arms and orbed them both away.

"The sisters will take care of it," Leo assured him.

"What about Wyatt?" asked Chris.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry."

Chris looked around him and suddenly felt very nervous. It was obviously a part of the Magic School, the fancy upholstery was all he needed to see to know what it was. His stomach lurched. The telepath—Phil—was in the corner of the room, engrossed in a book.

"I'm going to take Mel to the nursery. You wait here, okay?"

Chris nodded. Leo took the rather shaken Mel by the hand and led her down a corridor. Chris couldn't help but feel very much alone with Phil in the room...what if telepathy wasn't his only power?

Phil scoffed. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know." He looked up from the book. "Too many witnesses."

"But there aren't—"

"There will be. Three...Two..."

The doors came slamming open. Before Chris even saw the face of the person, he ducked by instinct under the table. He didn't feel safe in this place, not one bit. Whoever was coming in couldn't be any safer.

"I will not tolerate it," the voice boomed. "They cannot use the nursery as a safe house. I will not tolerate it!"

"Gideon, sir," said a feeble voice, "they are the Charmed Ones. Their children are constantly in danger. If you just tried to..."

"Sigmund, be quiet!" The voice took in a calming breath. "Phil, how nice to see you..." he said sweetly once he realized the boy was in the room. "Wait—there's someone else in here, isn't there?"

Chris held his breath. Phil was going to tell this man he was here. For all he knew, Gideon could be an elder—the very people he was supposed to be hiding from. Along with the pesky bounty-hunter.

His mind raced. What to do, what to do? A thought came to his head and he whispered, "Trick their eyes/ I am not here/ Tell them lies/ I disappear."

Gideon's suspicious look seemed to fade away.

"Nope. Just me," Phil lied.

Chris was shocked. He thought he was a goner, but Phil just basically saved his life.

"Very well," Gideon said. "Must have been a false alarm. I don't sense anything anymore."

The doors swung open and a very flustered looking Leo rushed in. "G-Gideon—nice to see you," he said in a strained voice.

Gideon cocked an eyebrow. "Same to you, Leo," he replied curtly. "What's going on at the manor?"

"Demon attack. The sisters and Wyatt are taking care of it, but they told me to drop off Mel. She's so little and all..."

"I see," he interrupted, though it was clear he was feeling quite the opposite way. "Come back for her when you feel it's safe, then."

"I will."

Leo watched as Sigmund and Gideon left the room and waited until the sounds of their footsteps could no longer be heard. "Chris? Chris, where are you?" he asked in a panic.

Chris got up from under the table. "They were elders, weren't they?"

"Thank god—yes, they were elders, but they weren't supposed to be here! There was a teacher's meeting today, I'd assumed..." He paused. "Well, I didn't think they'd be coming here. How'd you know they were elders?"

"Weird vibes came off of them."

"But...why didn't Gideon find you?" Leo wondered. "He's an elder. He can sense."

"He cast a spell," said Phil, still not bothering to look up from his book. "I suggest you two leave, as other teachers may be following the two of them."

Leo gawked at the kid, mouth agape. "Telepath," he murmured in realization. "Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks," said Chris gratefully. But he meant his thanks for covering for him when those elders came along. Leo orbed them back to the manor, still mumbling his apologies to Chris though Chris wasn't listening anymore.

"It's safe," said Piper in relief, seeing them orb into the kitchen.

"Is Mel okay?" asked Phoebe, following her downstairs with Wyatt and Paige.

"Yeah, she's fine, but I just did the stupidest thing..." Leo said, hanging his head down. "Gideon and Sigmund almost found Chris. I left him alone for five or so minutes in plain view in the library—I can't believe how stupid that was—"

"Did anybody see him?" asked Piper urgently.

"Just Phil," said Chris. Wyatt was motioning from behind Paige's back to go upstairs with him, so Chris looked up at the adults one last time and followed his brother up the stairs.

"Just Phil? That kid was in the library?!" Paige demanded.

"Yeah...and apparently so were Gideon and Sigmund."

"Why didn't they find him? Gideon's one of the most powerful elders there are! He should've been able to sense Chris," Phoebe said, confused.

"Phil was there. He said that Chris cast a spell. I didn't teach him to do that."

"Neither did I," said Piper, looking over at her sisters expectantly. They merely shrugged their shoulders—neither of them had, either.

"Wiccan instincts?" Paige guessed.

"That kid is powerful."

"Oh, damn, there's still that meeting going on. I had to leave to fight the demon. I'm so late!" Paige exclaimed.

"Can you pick up Mel and drop her off here on your way?" asked Phoebe.

"Sure." Paige orbed up and was back down an instant later. "See ya, Mel," she said to her niece, orbing again.

"Bye-bye Aunt Paige," she giggled. Apparently the daycare teacher had worked wonders, because it seemed that she forgot all about the demon.

"Time to go home, honey," Phoebe announced, taking her daughter's hand. "Bye Piper, bye Leo. See you soon."

"Bye, Pheebs." Piper paused, sighing as the door closed. "Even after all these years, it seems weird to have the manor all to myself, you know?"

"Yeah," said Leo distantly. "I know."

"Was it the bounty-hunter?" asked Chris the instant they were out of earshot from the adults downstairs.

Wyatt nodded.

"And you...vanquished him?" Chris asked hopefully.

Wyatt sighed. "No. But we did hurt him pretty badly. I have the feeling that he's not coming back anytime soon."

"Well, that's good," said Chris, flopping onto the bed beside Wyatt's. "I don't understand why those stupid elders hate me so much."

"It stinks," Wyatt agreed. "You'd think they'd be after me, since the whole being-evil-in-a-past-life thing, but no—they go after the kid who's basically the reincarnation of the hero. It makes no sense. And now you have to hide, even though you did nothing wrong...." Wyatt hushed his voice. "But they're not all wrong. Some of it's right. I mean, in the last time I was supposed to be more powerful than you. But in this time..."

"I know. And I won't become evil."

"I know," Wyatt assured him, "but still. It's stupid. Just plain stupid. I mean, they took you away from us when you were just a baby—you were an innocent!"

"A what?"

"An innocent. That's what we call the people we save—we save them because they're innocent."

"Oh." Chris ran a finger through his hair. "This whole witch thing is confusing."

There was a significant pause in the room, both brothers thinking in their own little world. Suddenly they both piped up, "I have an idea!"

"You go first," said Wyatt.

"No, you," Chris insisted, "mine probably won't work. I don't know what magic can and can't do yet."

"Okay." Wyatt took in a deep breath. "Well, the Chris from the other time died, right? I was figuring that we could..."

"...summon him from the dead," Chris finished.

"Exactly," said Wyatt with a grin. "You catch on pretty fast."

"Thank you. So, what do we need to do?"

"Go to the attic first. I'll orb you so Mom and Dad don't hear us leave." Wyatt took Chris' hand and orbed them both by the podium. "Then you set up all these candles like this and come up with a spell. Let me think...Hear my words, hear my rhyme—"

"Spirit from the other side," Chris interjected. Wyatt grinned.

"Come to us, we summon thee..." Wyatt added.

"The man that I would someday be," Chris finished.

A gust of wind swished through the room and both boys had to balance themselves on the podium to keep from blowing away.

More cookies!! Lol. Thank you to all who have filled my virtual stomach with yummy nonexistent treats!! YOU ALL ROCK!! Lol!


	8. Summoning Chris

Disclaimer: I'll inform you when I win the lottery and hire assassins to go after Brad Kern, then pretend to be his long lost aunt's niece's friend's cousin's mailman's daughter, heir to the Charmed throne. Cough. Cough. Cough.

"Holy crap!" Wyatt screamed. They grabbed each other's arms, trying not to be swept away. Their cries were barely heard over the howling of the wind.

"What the hell?"

It was neither of the two boys that spoke. Chris and Wyatt looked up, mouths agape, staring at a tall 23-year-old man with brown hair and trademark green eyes. Big Chris and Chris locked eyes in amazement and Wyatt looked between the two of them several times, obviously understanding the connection.

"Oh god," both Chris' said at the same time. "You're me!"

"Whoa, that was weird. Don't do it again," Wyatt pleaded.

"You're a younger me and little Wyatt," said Big Chris. "Did you...summon me?"

"I-I think so," Little Chris stuttered.

Piper bit her lip, washing the plates in the sink. She was staring outside, waiting, but not quite sure what for. This entire family was tragedy-prone. Something would happen soon enough, it was bound to. After Chris had died everything got crazy. Gideon and Sigmund were brought back to life and strict orders were made that elders could never leave Up There. The rule as made to ensure that Gideon wouldn't hurt Wyatt, but it came at the price of Leo as well.

After that, baby Chris had been taken away. Piper and Wyatt had been left on their own for a year until Leo was finally able to return for good. Now his elder duties were more like a part-time job.

But now everything was too perfect. Finding Chris, having Leo, everybody being safe and healthy...There were setbacks. Chris didn't know them or his powers and he was constantly in danger. Bounty-hunters, elders, Magic School students, Gideon—they were all after him now. Or at least they would be if they weren't careful.

Some tragedy would occur soon. She knew it.

But it was best not to think about it.

She scrubbed harder. It had been so long since she'd seen little Chris' face, and yet she already knew what he'd look like. And not because of the future Chris she'd met. She knew it because of his attitude. When he was only a little baby, she could still see it in his eyes. The strength, the determination, the mischievous nature—it was all there right away. If only she'd gotten to keep it.

He's back, she reminded herself. He's back and nothing will change that.

"Holy crap!"

Piper jolted up and ran to the attic. She'd been expecting this. A tragedy of some kind—and this was it! She'd run up there and one of the boys would be hurt or kidnapped or missing or dead...

"Chris...?" she stuttered, aghast. Only she wasn't staring at the little boy by the altar. She was staring at the transparent 23-year-old man standing in the circle of candles.

"Hey Mom," he greeted her with a confused smile. "Somebody called?"

"That would be us," little Chris informed him.

"It was our idea," Wyatt added. "Are we in trouble?"

"N-No, of course not," Piper whispered, still staring at Chris. It had been so long. Nine years, to be exact. And all through it she'd hoped that maybe he'd gone to a better future...

But no. He was transparent. That meant he'd been dead.

"Chris, I'm so sorry," she cried. She wanted to go and hug him but she knew she couldn't break the triangle of candles or he'd disappear.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. It was Gideon's."

"What was Gideon's fault?" asked Wyatt.

"Gideon's a bad man," Chris said to himself.

"That's right," Big Chris agreed.

"I hoped you'd gone to a better future...the one you created..." She felt tears running down her cheeks and she couldn't stop them. He'd worked so hard for them all and he didn't even get to enjoy it.

"Don't cry, Mom. It was my time. I was supposed to die that time you and Dad were on the ghostly plane, but I was spared because I needed to save the future. I completed the task. And then...well, you know. I had to die."

"But I didn't want you to..."

"The Angel of Death came for me. There was no other option." He turned to Wyatt and his little clone. "Why did you summon me?" he asked.

"We...were confused," Wyatt said sheepishly, staring at his feet.

"Wait—what's been going on in this time anyways?" asked Big Chris.

Piper's face fell. "Wyatt's not evil. That's the good part."

"Something happened," he guessed.

"Yeah. Chris—you, I mean—were kidnapped at two weeks old. We just recently found you—um, him—two days ago, after nine years of being an orphan. He didn't know anything about witchcraft except all these weird powers that he had." She paused. "Chris, when you were, uh, alive, what were your powers?"

"Telekinesis and orbing," he admitted. "That was it. Wyatt had all of the powers."

"Chris has more powers than that," said Wyatt. "Tell them, Chris."

Chris looked up, a little nervous. "I have telekinesis and orbing, too. But I can freeze time, see in the dark and far away like binoculars, and heal myself."

Big Chris' eyes widened, almost as if to say, "No fair!" but he quickly regained composure. "The elders. They must have thought there was a balance switch. That's why they kidnapped him, right?"

"That's what we think."

"Wait...Gideon didn't die, did he?"

"No," said Piper regretfully, "he didn't. The elders brought him back to run the Magic School."

"Bastard," Big Chris muttered. Both boys gasped and Piper glared at him, causing him to clear his throat and mumble, "Sorry. But I thought that he'd be gone for good! Before Gideon was killed I was in this weird plane between life and death, like you and Leo were stuck in when...well, you know. But when Gideon died I was allowed to move on. I didn't think that he'd be resurrected because I stayed, well, dead and all." He sighed. "But I gotta say I prefer this timeline. In the other one, everything was generally destroyed by now."

"They're only eleven and nine!" Piper gasped. "Wow, I never thought it was that bad."

"It was that bad." He turned to Wyatt and Chris. "Just for the record, let me assure you two that I don't think there was a balance switch. The elders are paranoid. What I think is that in this timeline, the powers were evened out so that they BOTH had the same amount. But, like I said, paranoia causes the elders to do stupid things...but this 'stupid thing' definitely tops all the others."

"That's definitely right," Piper agreed. "Do you want me to call Leo?" she asked hesitantly.

Chris hesitated. "I don't think we should. It might hurt him more than help."

"Hmmm." Piper understood. Leo was, after all, the one that watched him die. Along with Paige.

"Does that answer your questions?" asked Big Chris with a grin.

Chris and Wyatt grinned back, the three of their faces eerily identical. "Yeah, I think that's good," Wyatt replied.

"Bye, everyone. Um, oh yeah—I just thought I'd add—don't get us water guns for Christmas."

Piper stared at him incredulously. "Why...?"

Chris stifled back a laugh, shrugging. "Uh, future consequences," he laughed as the shimmering lights took him back to wherever the dead peoples went. Lol.

Piper stared wistfully at the flickering, dying candles for a moment. "Okay boys, that's enough screwing around with time and space for one night. Let's get you two into bed, alright?"

"Okay." Wyatt took Chris' hand and orbed them down to the bedroom. They laid on their beds and stared at the ceiling until Chris finally said, "That was weird."

"Yeah, I know. It was."

"It's nice to know that at least somebody thinks that their wasn't a weird shift in the balance. I don't mean to brag..." Chris grinned widely. "But the older me is pretty cool."

Wyatt laughed. "You're right. Wonder what I was like?"

They stopped laughing.

"Or maybe not," Wyatt whispered.

"Don't worry about it, Wyatt. That guy wasn't you and he never will be. And it'll never happen. Any of it."

"Yeah, but all those dreams I—WE—keep having seem so...so...realistic." Wyatt sighed. "I wonder if they're trying to tell us something."

Chris shot up in bed. "Don't think like that, Wyatt! You're not evil and neither am I! It's probably just a coincidence. I mean, maybe the dreams are just perfectly normal—weird and unexplainable, like all the others. For all we know, none of it ever happened.

Wyatt scoffed. "Yeah. Sure. That's why we have the same dreams where the same disasters happen."

Chris couldn't think of anything to say to that, so they fell asleep in absolute silence.

"What are you doing??" A woman with jet-black hair and beautiful tan skin demanded. But she wasn't beautiful in a pretty way. She was beautiful in a determined, courageous, valiant way. But who was she?"

"Chris, we have to get out of here," she choked. He saw tears running down her cheeks.

"No!" Chris heard himself say. He turned his back on her, facing the rest of the room. The room was unfamiliar and burning. Fire was all around him, eating away at the wooden walls. The woman stood at the doorway, frantic. "Bianca, Wyatt caused this and I'm not going to let all of these innocents die!"

"But Chris, I—"

"Oh, save it!" he cried. "You WORK for the bastard! Just get out of here!"

"But we..."

"Go. I don't care. You don't love me, you're an assassin."

And with that, he faced the roaring flames and left her there to cry.

Chris woke up, gasping. It was still dark out and Wyatt was asleep in the bed next to him, completely unaware. He breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. He was awake. The fire and that woman...weren't real.

'Wyatt caused this...you don't love me, you're an assassin...'

He shuddered. So, he'd been in love with a woman in this alternative life, too? Bianca was her name. He almost wanted to summon her, too, assuming that she was dead...but then he realized that she'd probably be alive as a child in the normal timeline they were in now. That wouldn't help anything.

For now he'd just go back to sleep.

When he woke up again, Wyatt was shaking him excitedly. "Mommy made pancakes!" he exclaimed. "She used to be a chef, you know. She's a great cook. Now she owns the P3, a club for older people, though."

"Cool," Chris yawned, getting out of bed.

When they got to the breakfast table, Paige was frowning over some paperwork.

"What's up, Aunt Paige?" asked Wyatt.

She put the papers down and smiled. "Hey, boys! You're awake!" She looked down again, reading the text. "Nothing much. You guys have a new classmate for Magic School, though. A little younger than Chris. Funny, we don't usually get late applicants like this." Her smile widened. "Except for you," she assured Chris.

"What's his name?" Chris asked.

"Her," Paige corrected, "name is Bianca."

Chris was so shocked he could've choked on air. "B-Bianca?!"

MWAHAH!! Lol.


	9. An Assassin

Disclaimer: I still haven't kidnapped Brad Kern and held him for ransom so I could own the show...but I'm getting to it. It's on my to-do list.

* * *

"Mm-hm," said Paige nonchalantly. "Why? Interested?" She dropped the papers again to grin at the two of them.

"Um, no." Chris and Wyatt exchanged a glance. "Hey, I think I need to go get something upstairs," Chris lied. "Wyatt, why don't you...um, help me find it?"

"Sure."

The two of them raced back up the stairs. "The name," Chris panted as soon as they slammed the door shut. "That name. I've heard it before. In dreams!"

"Boys, don't slam doors," Leo called from down the stairs.

They froze. "Dad must have orbed into the kitchen," Wyatt guessed. "I've heard the name, too. I'm trying to remember what I was doing in the dream, though. It was really strange."

"I remember. I had a dream about a woman named Bianca last night, actually. I was older. A lot older. I could feel it. And I was in this burning building. She kept telling me to get out, and I said no because of the innocents that—that—were trapped inside. It was the other timeline, Wyatt. You did it." Chris gulped and Wyatt looked down.

"Anyways," Chris continued, before it was too awkward to talk some more, "I think we were in love. Or at least she was in love with me. I was very, very mad in the dream. I kept telling her that she was some kind of a traitor—assassin, that was the work. An assassin that worked for you." Chris looked over at his brother. "Past Wyatt tried to kill past Chris."

"And now the Bianca from this time is coming to Magic School," Wyatt finished. "I wonder..."

"If she remembers too."

"I doubt it," said Wyatt. "I mean, honestly, nobody else in the world but us have these creepy dreams. And that's because we were directly involved."

"Something tells me that Bianca WAS directly involved," Chris mused. "But I don't know. Today's Saturday, right?"

"Yeah. Magic School all day." Wyatt gagged in disgust.

"Then I guess we'll find out." Chris gulped and his stomach did a back flip, suddenly remembering the note that had summoned him to the classroom after the bell rang—WITHOUT Wyatt.

But he'd proved that he could defend himself, right? And if it was Herman, like he suspected, he couldn't really hurt him. The teachers would definitely find out. And he could heal himself, even if it took a little while to kick in.

He told himself not to worry. Everything would be fine.

"Let's go eat breakfast. The sooner the better."

Chris nodded and followed him down the stairs again.

* * *

Leo orbed into the kitchen. Paige was reading some papers and Piper was busy cooking pancakes at the stove. He heard footsteps bounding up the stairs and figured it was Chris and Wyatt. It was so sweet that they were already getting along.

"Mm, that smells good," Leo complimented, hovering over Piper's shoulder. He kissed her good morning and looked over to see Paige groan. "What's up?" he asked.

"Paperwork. AGAIN. Another new student! Can you believe it! Her name is—"

SLAM!

"What was that?" asked Piper and Paige at the same time.

Leo shrugged. "Boys, don't slam doors!" he called up.

"Anyways, her name's Bianca."

Piper coughed loudly. "BIANCA? THE PHOENIX GIRL?"

"How'd you know she was a phoenix?" asked Paige, amazed.

"How'd I know?! Paige, don't tell me you forgot. Leo, did you forget? Please tell me you didn't forget."

"Of course not. How could I?" Leo responded. He turned to Paige. "The assassin from the future, the one that was engaged to older Chris. THE ONE THAT TRIED TO KILL HIM."

"Oh yeah!" Paige exclaimed. "But don't worry, she's only eight years old. I highly doubt that she's capable of murder." Piper glared at Paige angrily. Paige held her hands up in defense. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them! All three of them. And Herman." She leaned back on her chair. "You know, both Wyatt and Chris were a little surprised when they heard her name. Do you think...?"

"No. We never mentioned it to them," he reminded her. "We didn't want to complicate anything."

"Right. We'll just pretend like she had no connection to them whatsoever," Piper instructed, flipping pancakes onto a plate and handing it to Leo.

"Right."

There were footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Just in time, boys," Piper greeted them, tossing pancakes onto two plates and handing them to them. "Eat up. Long day at Magic School."

Paige laughed. "Don't scare the kid, it's only two hours," she assured him.

'Two hours before meeting the mysterious note writer. Two minutes before we meet Bianca,' Chris thought.

"I wonder what Bianca will look like," said Wyatt.

Chris looked up, astonished that Wyatt would say that in front of all of these adults. He gave him a glare, but fortunately it seemed that Paige and their parents were too infatuated in their food to notice his remark. But Wyatt didn't even look his way. He was staring at the wall.

"Oh yeah. If she's anything like the girl in those freaky dreams, then we already know what she looks like."

Now Chris was alarmed. How could Wyatt SAY that? Hadn't they agreed not to talk about it to the adults?

And then he gasped. Wyatt's lips hadn't moved. In fact, it was almost as if...

Almost as if he was reading his thoughts.

"Should I tell Paige how bad that lipstick looks on her?" asked Piper. Chris whipped around, but she didn't notice. She was staring at Paige, who was still reading. None of them heard it. None of them but him.

Now he was panicking. Was this...telepathy?

He choked down the pancakes, waiting eagerly for a moment to catch Wyatt alone. Pretty soon the thoughts were beginning to irritate him more than shock.

'I wonder if that shirt is back from the dry cleaner's yet.'

'I'd better make sure none of the elders know that we're hiding Chris.'

'Mmmm, Mom sure makes the best pancakes. I hope she doesn't realize that I stained my shirt with syrup. Uh-oh.'

'I have to ask Paige about Chris' powers. If they're progressing too rapidly...I don't even want to think about that.'

The last was Leo's thought. Chris was glad he'd finished his food, because suddenly he didn't have an appetite. It would be better to keep this power to himself, he decided. Besides, it wasn't like they'd find out...unless...

Phoebe was a telepath!

Oh, no. He'd have to stay away from her. This really sucked. What was it with these powers? Why did they just keep coming? He felt like banging his head on the table, and then he vaguely wondered if doing so would knock the supernatural abilities out of him. This really, really, really sucked. And something told him it wasn't meant to be.

"Oh, you guys are late," said Piper suddenly. "Here, Paige, orb them to Magic School."

"And Paige?" asked Leo, giving her a look. 'I hope she remembers she promised to talk to me about Chris' powers,' Chris heard his father think.

"I know, I know," she said, rolling her eyes. 'I almost don't want to tell him.'

"Why?" Chris asked her. He blushed. "I mean, what time is it? I thought we, errr, got up earlier today," he lied.

Paige frowned, looking at the oven clock. "Quarter to nine. We're on time, Mrs. Paranoid," she joked.

"Hey! That would make me—"

"Mr. Paranoid," said Paige to Leo, grinning. "See ya!"

Once again, they orbed right into the classroom. Today there was an extra chair in the semi-circle, and a girl with tanned skin, long black hair, and big brown eyes sat in it.

'Bianca,' Wyatt thought. Chris, annoyingly enough, picked that up, too. 'That must be Bianca! We have to talk to her before class starts—'

"No," Chris said suddenly. Oops. He did it again. Man, did telepathy cause complications. "I mean, I know you're probably thinking of talking to her, but maybe we should wait. It's her first day. If we go up to her now, she'll probably think we're beyond creepy."

"Yeah, you're right. After class, then? We've got some time."

Chris gulped. "No, I, er, have to do something after class."

Wyatt cocked an eyebrow. "And that would be...?"

"I think I—"

Chris was spared the difficulty of coming up with an excuse, because right at that very moment, the girl got up from her seat and approached them. Her eyes locked with Chris' and they both gasped, taking a step back.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but do I know you? You look familiar."

"You're Bianca!" Chris blurted. He felt his cheeks turn red again.

"How'd you know?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "Oh. You're related to the teacher, right? And your name is—let me think. I know this. It's...hard to remember...Chris! That's your name, right? Chris and...Wyatt." Her voice dropped low at the last word.

"Yeah!" Chris said excitedly. "But we know you, too. It's complicated."

Bianca checked the clock. "We've got time."

"Okay..." Chris began. "Do you have weird dreams?" He braced himself for some sarcastic response like, "Yeah, right. Are you on medication?" but it didn't come.

'How does he know that I have weird dreams?' he heard he think in a panic. 'Maybe he has them, too. The ones where I'm an evil assassin. I see them both...but Wyatt's...EVIL. What's he doing here?'

"Wyatt isn't evil in this time," Chris insisted, much to Wyatt's and Bianca's surprise. He sighed. "There's one dream I have that we're both in the attic of the Halliwell manor, hovering over a book. I say a spell and go through a portal, but a demon attacks you. You tell me that you can fend him off and that I had to go and save the future."

"Yeah, I've had that dream..." she said skeptically.

"Well, the Chris in that time really did save the future. And in doing that, he assured that Wyatt wasn't evil." He couldn't help but think, 'But did it make ME evil? I hate all of these powers!'

"That's good. Sorry if I..." She looked over to Wyatt apologetically. "Heh. It's just, in these weird dreams, you kinda..." She winced. "Killed me."

Wyatt looked down at the floor. "I know."

"Okay class, everyone to your seats. Today's lesson includes writing aspects of magic, including spell-making and adding subjects to your Book of Shadows or Grimoire."

The lesson was long and everything seemed to slip through one ear and out the other. He was lost in thought. Last week had been so simple: wake up, do chores, play outside, eat three meals and go to sleep. In fact, back then, the worst thing that ever happened was getting a scrape on the knee or lost in the woods, or being bummed when it started to rain. And now there were bounty hunters and elders and bullies and strange dream girls and too many powers and...

It wasn't until Paige started handing out rhyming dictionaries that he finally snapped back into reality. He felt like he was being watched, so he looked up and met the eyes of the telepath.

He twitched. Why hadn't he thought to scramble his thoughts? Would Phil be weird enough to barge in on his personal business?

He sighed. In the magic world, you weren't even safe inside your mind. Then he quickly scrambled the thoughts in his brain so they were unreadable.

"Everybody have a dictionary? Good. Alright, now we're going to split into partners and come up with a spell."

"What kind of a spell?" asked a particularly obnoxious kid in the front of the room.

"A spell for anything you like. It won't work inside these walls, of course, because it's protected against it. And remember—you have to give me the spell before you leave the room. We can have you using them for personal gain, now, can we?" She laughed, expecting the children to join in, then gave up and rolled her eyes. "Such enthusiasm," she muttered.

Chris and Wyatt glanced at each other, signaling that they wanted to partner up. (Duh.)

Paige came up to them, Bianca in tow. "Hey boys, how about you partner up with Bianca?" she said pleasantly. 'Man, Piper will kill me if she ever finds out I partnered them all up. The villain, the hero, and the assassin. But that's over. Besides, I couldn't partner her with anyone else...' she thought.

Apparently Phil, who was staring intently at Paige, had been picking up the thoughts as well. He looked over at Chris and mouthed the word, 'Assassin?'

Chris looked away from him. "Okay," Chris replied to Paige, giving Bianca a smile that he hoped didn't falter because of his nervousness.

Today could only get weirder.

* * *

Okay, sorry for those of you that thought this chapter sucked. That's too bad! I was writing really fast and I have no time—I gotta go. But now that _A Look into the Future_ is finished, I can update this more often. I have many evil plans to sort out in this story...mwahaha!

Oh, and **Tigerdrake**? If you don't like it, don't read it.

--Pink-Charmed-One--


	10. Late Warnings

Disclaimer: Why do I bother?? I—DON'T—OWN—CHARMED. Deal with it and move on. (pouts).

* * *

"So, what kind of spell should we make?" asked Bianca, looking at them for input. "My mom does spells all the time, but she won't let me help. She keeps saying it's for 'adult' stuff. I think she vanquishes demons."

"So do our parents," said Wyatt. He thought for a moment. "Let's make a spell for candy!"

"What rhymes with candy?" Bianca wrinkled her nose at the impossibility.

"Sandy?" Chris suggested. "Dandy?"

"That works!" exclaimed Wyatt. "She said it has to be four lines. So, uh...I'll start. Bring to us some...yummy candy."

"Only the best, make it dandy," Chris added.

"We need to have a sugary treat..." Bianca shrugged.

Chris' eyes lit up. "So give us the morsels so we can eat!"

They all giggled at their success. "You always were good at making spells in my visions," said Bianca shyly. Chris felt himself turn red for the umpteenth time that day.

"Thanks," he mumbled. "So are you."

Pretty soon the class was once again coming to an end. Chris felt the dread growing in his stomach, almost certain now that he'd be waiting for someone outside to meet his doom. This really wasn't going to be enjoyable. Tick, tock...tick, tock...

RING!

He shot up from his seat in surprise. The class laughed but he barely noticed. He was trying to think up a way to get rid of Wyatt and ensure that he had his privacy when confronting this mysterious note-leaver. But how?!

"Hey, Wyatt, I need your help with something," Paige called. "Come here." She turned to Chris. "Wait outside, we'll only be a few minutes."

"Okay," he said, relieved. He didn't even think about why Paige was holding Wyatt back—he bolted out the door before he could pick up anymore thoughts. He waited outside, heart pounding. He reminded himself that nobody would hurt him. Not here, at least. Not with Paige and Wyatt in the next room, able to help at any moment.

"I've been waiting."

Out of the shadows came Phil. Chris took a step back.

"Don't be afraid of me. I want to assure you that I mean no harm."

Chris relaxed a bit but he still scrambled his thoughts. This hadn't been what he was expecting. The telepath? The one that was encouraging the brawl on his first day?

"Why did you ask to meet me?" Chris finally struck up the nerve to ask.

"Because I know you're background. I'm a shape shifter, Chris."

Chris gasped. "You're a demon!"

"No, I'm not...I'm human. It's one of my powers. I'm like you—a witch with a lot of magic. I know of all of your struggles—I'm a telepath. And I'm under the guise of a bully. In truth, I'm a twin."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"I'm not just anybody's twin."

Chris looked at him quizzically, then jumped back in horror as Phil's entire body seemed to melt and reform into...Sammy.

"You're kidding me," Chris choked.

"No, I'm not. My real name is Cam and I'm Sammy's identical twin brother."

Chris opened his mouth to protest. He couldn't be Sammy's twin! Sammy had no powers and he was at an orphanage!

"I can explain. It's similar to your story." Phil—er, Cam—sighed. "I read your mind the other day, when you first came here. I thought I heard something about Sammy. When I put it all together, I realized that you'd only be scared of the elders if you'd have to hide from them and pretend like you don't exist."

"But...where's the real Sammy then?"

"At the orphanage. When we were born we were mortal—no powers, no weird abilities. We lived like normal children. Then I got my powers and the elders kidnapped me and sent my brother to the orphanage when we were about two. When I was old enough, I started shapeshifting. I can only become different humans, though, and they're always the same voice. What's handy about it is that I've been able to sneak out of Magic School and contact Sammy every now and then. And as soon as I became a telepath..." He gulped. "I read Gideon's mind. He didn't want me for magical purposes. He had to get me and Sammy out of the way so he could kill our parents, thinking that they were too much of a threat."

"That's terrible," said Chris.

"Yeah, but you're in a lot of trouble now, too. Gideon suspects you. It won't be long until he finds you. He was thinking yesterday that he may randomly orb down to the manor, asking for Paige, or he may go down to the orphanage and check to see if you're there."

"Everyone at the orphanage thinks I'm dead."

"Chris...Gideon can cast a truth spell."

"On my family? He wouldn't. They'd know!"

"No, Chris...I made a mistake. That's why I needed to tell you this. Sammy knows," he said.

"W-what?"

"Sammy knows you're still alive. And if Gideon goes down there and casts a truth spell on him...they're going to find you. And this time they're going to kill you."

Chris was lost for words. "I thought Elders were supposed to be, you know, GOOD."

"They're trying to be. They're idiots."

"Thanks...for telling me this."

"No problem. Look—I'd really like to be friends, but I'm trying to be Phil right now, so I'm still going to have to bully you. It's the best way to avoid Gideon—taking on a completely different identity. The real Phil was sent down to earth to live with his mortal family a year ago. I stole his image so I could hide."

The door opened. "Chris," said Paige, "and Phil. What are you two doing?"

"Just talking," said Cam in a rude tone. "Catch ya later, Halliwell." And then with a telepathic message, he managed to send out the words, 'Don't tell Wyatt. Don't tell any of them. It's too risky. Good luck.'

Chris nodded and looked at Wyatt, shrugging. "He wanted to know if we could help him with his rhyming," he lied.

"That's weird. Phil's usually good with that sort of thing." Paige shrugged as well, then took them by the hand and orbed them to the manor.

They were still in the middle of the orb when he saw it. Gideon, standing by the kitchen counter with an angry look on his face. He remembered Phil's warning and by reflex broke Paige's orb and orbed away by his own power, making it seem as if he was never there.

* * *

"G-Gideon, hello," Paige greeted the elder. She looked down and to her shock and relief, Wyatt was the only one with her. She must have accidentally left Chris at Magic School. But...

"Hello, Paige. I've been waiting," he said angrily.

"Sorry. I had to clean up the classroom. Spell making materials—"

"I don't want an explanation. I want to know where you've hidden the boy."

"Wyatt? He's right here. I just orbed him here from Magic School," Paige said confidently. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there is a problem. The second Halliwell boy is missing from the orphanage. Care to explain?" he snapped, visibly furious now.

"Where have you hidden him? We've been searching for nine years! Tell us where he is! You were wrong to take him from us. What have you done to him?" she demanded. Wyatt was amazed. Paige was really good at pretending they had no idea where Chris was, even though he was supposed to be with them right now.

But Wyatt felt Chris' panic and he felt him orb away. He must have seen with that vision-power of his what Paige and Wyatt could not—Gideon. 

"We haven't done anything, but I fear you have," Gideon snarled. "He's undetectable. We can't find him. We've been keeping tabs on this boy since his birth, and you want us to believe that he's not with you?!"

"G-Gideon...we don't have him. Could that mean...he's d-dead?" Paige choked.

Wow, thought Wyatt. She really is convincing!

"He can't be," Wyatt added to make it convincing. "But if you can't sense him..." He tried his very best to look sad. "I wish I could've known him. After all, he was my brother. Why'd you take him away?"

"Look, Paige," Gideon sneered in an unnaturally cruel tone. "I will find that boy. And when I do, I'll kill him." He orbed away.

"LEO!" Paige called the instant Gideon left. "LEO!"

"What, Paige? What's wrong?" Leo asked.

"It's Chris. Gideon was here, he's looking for him. He says he'll kill him if he finds out where he is."

Leo looked around. "Um, Paige...where is he?"

"I don't know!" she cried.

"He orbed out," Wyatt explained. "He has that weird vision power. He saw Gideon before the rest of us did and orbed out in panic. I don't know where."

Leo closed his eyes, sensing. "Not again," he said, panicking. He orbed out.

* * *

Chris clutched the pillar and held on for dear life. Why did he always orb here? It made no sense. He didn't even want to orb here. All he was thinking of was, 'Get away from Gideon, get somewhere safe,' and he ended up here. Again.

He wished he was a little more specific. If he'd had the choice, he wouldn't be hundreds of feet up from San Francisco Bay and the whirring cars beneath him.

He took in a deep breath and told himself not to panic. It was just a silly mistake. Any minute now, Leo would find him and orb him back to the manor and everything would be okay.

So when was he going to come? What if Gideon found him first? He'd be killed!

"One...two...three..." He started to count, distracting himself from the perils that would meet him should he fall. "Four...five...six..." He made all the way to fifty-two when he felt himself slipping. Don't panic, he told himself. Don't panic...just keep holding on to the pillar...

The hot sun beat down on his head and warmed the pillar. It felt almost too hot to touch. He felt his hands and arms turning red and winced, wondering when somebody would come...IF somebody would come....

"Chris!" It was Leo's voice. He sighed in relief.

"Dad...?"

"Buddy...you scared us. Thank goodness, Gideon was..." He shook his head, eyes watering, and grabbed Chris to orb him back.

After the mayhem was all settled and dinner was served, the adults insisted that Wyatt and Chris go to bed early. It had been a rough day with the intrusion of Gideon. They needed to come up with a more foolproof plan, because Gideon was obviously not buying it.

* * *

_Chris was standing over at the altar where the Book of Shadows lay, eyes occasionally flickering over in the direction of a blonde toddler. He needed to protect him. He couldn't let Gideon take him._

_There was a noise and he looked up. Nobody was there._

_Suddenly a man orbed in. It was Gideon! He held a knife in his hand, sending Chris flying out at the wall. Chris shot back up, poised to attack._

_"Don't make me sacrifice you both," Gideon hissed._

_No, this couldn't happen! He'd worked too hard!_

_He raised his hand and telekinetically threw Gideon at the wall and ran for the toddler in the playpen. He was too late. Gideon recovered, orbed in front of him and—_

_Blood gushed down his shirt and pain shot through his every nerve. He'd been stabbed._

_"Dad..." he said weakly._

* * *

He shot up in bed in cold sweat and looked to the side of the room for Wyatt, but saw instead the glinting reflection of a blade.

"Did you think you could hide from me, Chris?" Gideon cackled from the doorway.

Chris screamed.

* * *

I shall update as soon as I can...SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!! SOMEBODY SHOOT ME!!!


	11. Accidental Murder

Disclaimer: Nope, not yet. Sorry guys...the whole blackmailing Brad Kern into giving me ownership of Charmed plan hasn't exactly been initiated yet. But I'll be sure to let you know.

And another thing—how many of you watch the Charmed reruns on TNT? Did anybody but me realize that they totally SKIPPED the episode Prue died?! EVIL!!!

* * *

Gideon stuffed a rag in his mouth. "Don't try anything, you foolish child," he hissed. "Your family is trapped in magical cages downstairs. There is nobody to help you now."

Chris thrashed around violently, shaking his head, eyes wide in fear. The blade still glinted in the limited amount of light provided from the full moon.

"You were never supposed to live...don't you see? You're too powerful. The world isn't ready for that much magic." The knife hovered over Chris now, poised to stab at any given moment. "I've been waiting to do this since the day you were born. 'Be reasonable,' the other elders said. 'Send him away. Shield him from magic.' Ha! As if that would stop the almighty Charmed Ones from relocating their son!" Gideon's face shone with sick, maddening pleasure. "But now....now it's your turn to feel pain."

Chris' eyes welled with frustrated tears. There was no way out. The knife was coming down on him—

He screamed, his mouth suddenly released from Gideon's hold. Gideon flew at the wall with a crash, destroying the dresser behind him. The knife clattered to the ground by the bed.

Chris held up his hand and leaned down, ready to grab it, when it suddenly floated up to his hand. If not for the death defying situation he found himself in now, he might have smiled. But he couldn't waste anytime. Hardly aware of what he was doing, he held up the knife.

"Don't move," he threatened. But it didn't sound much like a threat. His shaky, whisper of a voice could hardly pass as dangerous.

"You have no power of me," Gideon spat, recovering by lunging for the blade in Chris' hand. Chris held it away and Gideon crashed into the nightstand. "You are nothing but trouble!! Look at you, you evil son of a bitch, so ready to kill me! I knew it was true! You ARE evil! YOU NEED TO BE ELIMINATED AS WYATT DID ALL THOSE YEARS AGO!"

"I don't want to hurt you," Chris said weakly. He didn't notice the knife slip out of his hand in his moment of shock and weakness. It fell underneath the bed.

"You know, we could have done this the easy way," Gideon snarled. "But no...you chose differently. You can't escape me, Christopher," he cackled. He seemed to be clinically insane. "That knife was your easy way to hell, where you belong. But this..." He rose his hands above his head, grinning madly. "This will hurt much, much more than any knife."

"Don't," Chris whimpered. "Please!"

Blue electricity erupted from Gideon's hands and aimed at Chris. The bolts hit him dead on, shooting pain through his every muscle. Chris screamed in agony and fright as it seemed it was consuming him, melting him, dissolving him...He was being wasted away...

His scream grew louder until it finally faded. He couldn't fend it off any longer. He lost control of all thought, all emotion, became numb to the pain...

And suddenly the bright lights the consumed him disappeared. They were moving away...And Chris fell to the floor with a thud. Right before he closed his eyes, he saw Gideon surrounded by a mass of blue.

His last impending thought was, 'I am a murderer.'

* * *

Agnes ran through the soft clouds, wishing she could stop and gaze upon their beauty. Why was such loveliness kept only in this heaven when there was so much hatred on earth? She should know. She was murdered in cold blood by a gang of drunk guys in New York. And now she was a whitelighter, fulfilling her duties to the elders.

So she ran faster.

It was a message she was supposed to deliver to the elders. She couldn't help but be excited. She was only a novice and had never been honored by the presence of an elder before.

But she couldn't help but wonder why the message was so important that she had to run to deliver it. Normally elders were really slow about things, saying 'patience, patience,' and here they were ordering them to hurry up.

Her legs ached and she gasped for breath. These damned robes and slippers they had to wear Up There were not very practical in the least bit. Couldn't they have chosen something else? And besides, she hadn't exactly run in four months, since she'd died. In her spare time she used to run all the time. She'd help poor kids on the street and organize fundraisers, something your average seventeen-year-old girl didn't do. That's why she was chosen as a whitelighter, she supposed.

Finally, the gates to the elders' council room. The gates were golden and elegantly, extravagantly tall, creaking open to usher her in. As soon as there was enough space for her to wedge through, she ran into the room.

"Here, Agnes." The elder held out his hand to receive the message. She handed it to him.

"What is it?" asked another.

"The Halliwell boy," the elder gasped. "Where is Gideon?"

"Not present," said one to Agnes's left. "Why do you ask?"

"He has gone to the manor in which the Charmed Ones' reside," replied the elder gravely. "He will kill the young boy."

"We must do something!" cried the elder—a woman—farthest from Agnes.

"We cannot interfere, it is not our job. We can only hope." He sighed. "But Gideon will pay the consequences."

* * *

_The flames licked up to as far as his knees; he held his tongue to keep from crying out. There were innocents in this building that he had to save. He couldn't risk frightening them._

_"Hello? Hello?!" he called, coughing. He knew for a fact that there was a little girl in here. He could sense her. "I'm only here to help," he assured her. "Please, come out. You can't hide from fire..."_

_A door opened and a little blonde girl stepped out, tears in her eyes. Her face was dirty and smeared, her nightdress torn, but otherwise she was fine. No burns, no wounds. She let out a loud sob, crying, "Where's my mommy?"_

_"Outside," he said, trying to stay calm. "Be good, okay kid? Be good." He held up a hand and orbed her out. He was about to orb out himself when a burning board came crashing down on him from the ceiling. He gasped in pain, struggling to break free with no avail. The burning was awful. He was too weak to orb out...he was inhaling smoke, coughing, choking, sputtering..._

_Finally he mustered up the strength and managed to orb out. But there was nobody to heal him now..._

_Then the scene changed. It formed to right where the previous one left off—trying to protect the blonde toddler in the playpen and failing. Gideon had him. And now he'd been stabbed..._

But Chris slowly realized that the scenes that followed—a man appearing, laying on a bed, watching a red-haired woman and police officers enter the room, only to leave, shaking their head—were no ordinary dream. He'd been having this dream since he learned to talk. Every month or so, he'd dream of this...

This time, though, he realized to his horror that in his other dreams he watched the scene from afar—and this time he WAS the kid dying with a stab wound. And the crying man was Leo. And the woman...was Paige.

* * *

He woke with a start. It was bright outside and he was alone in the room still. Some of the wounds had healed through his unconsciousness, but he wasn't powerful enough to heal the rest.

He smiled. He didn't want to be powerful enough.

Where was everyone? He tried to get up but gasped in pain, falling back down. He uttered a small cry and managed to hoist himself up, wincing. He clutched the wall for support, inching his way down the stairs.

"Wyatt?" he croaked.

"Chris!" Piper shrieked. "Oh my god, we thought...Oh, Chris, we heard him. We heard Gideon. We thought you were dead! Oh my god, you're alive..."

Chris managed to kick the stone forming the cage that held his family inside. "Gideon..." he mumbled.

"I know, honey, I know..." Piper sobbed. "We saw him, he trapped us...Oh my god, _oh my god_..."

Leo bent down and started to heal him. "You healed some of this, didn't you?" he asked proudly.

Chris didn't respond. Because Leo wasn't smiling. He was looking at Paige with an accusing expression, like it was her fault, even though a part of him seemed to be pleased.

"What happened, honey?" asked Paige, ignoring her brother-in-law's glare.

"Gideon came," Chris said shakily. "He tried to kill me. He had a knife and—I didn't mean to, but that telekinesis thing happened and he flew at the wall...and I had the knife. I dropped it, though. I couldn't kill him, but I...He was...there was the blue stuff all around me and it hurt. All of a sudden it moved and hit him instead." His voice dropped to a weak whisper. "I killed him."

"No you didn't!" Paige insisted. "He killed himself. The elders would've recycled his soul anyways when they found out. Believe anything you want about him, Chris, but believe this: Everything that happened last night was his fault. You had nothing to do with it."

Piper drew him into a hug. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that..." she apologized. "We weren't careful enough."

Chris sniffled, but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Let's all go out and get some fresh air," Paige suggested optimistically. "We'll go out for lunch. I'll call Phoebe—she probably has no idea what's been happening."

"Lunch sounds great," Piper agreed. "How about it, boys?"

Wyatt and Chris nodded, both too solemn to say anything.

Chris followed them out to the car in a daze. Had he just imagined it...or had Leo just thought, "That kid is much too powerful for his own good"?

* * *

Sorry I haven't updated!! School's getting in the way. Would you believe that they gave us three hours of work on the FIRST DAY?? I know, it's crazy!! And the whole having three other siblings and two adults also needing the comp situation isn't exactly convenient. Sorry....

Pink-Charmed-One


	12. Really Scared

* * *

This is a very long and sad chapter!! READ PLZ!!

Disclaimer: I'm on Plan L on trying to kidnap Brad Kern and holding Charmed for ransom. That's a lot of failed plans....well, plastic butter knives didn't work, and the security guards found the poisonous snake in my purse before I could sneak it into his desk ("Gee, officer, how did that ugly thing get in my bag?"), and he only slightly bruised his foot with the mouse trap. Am I doing something wrong?

Hey, did you know that you can die if you don't wear socks? I read in this book that Calvin Coolidge's son died because he didn't wear socks with his sneakers while playing tennis and he got a bad blister on his foot. He got blood poisoning from it and died after four days of fever and delirium.

So listen to your gym teachers...wear socks, or die! (Hey, I was just thinking...If I ever make a sock company, that can be my motto: "Wear socks or die. Just ask Calvin Coolidge Jr.'s ghost.")

* * *

Chris spent the car drive in silence. Occasionally Wyatt would ask him a question, but his replies were as short as he could make them. He didn't want to talk right now. He wanted to read Leo's mind while he still could—if Phoebe really was coming, then he didn't have much time.

'I still can't believe that happened...We almost let him get KILLED...I'm a Charmed One, dammit, and I couldn't even protect him!'

Chris made a face and tuned out Piper's thoughts. He focused on Leo's face again, but this time Paige's voice broke his concentration.

"Hey, Pheebs, it's me. No, everything is not okay....It's over now, don't worry. But it was pretty intense. Gideon came down and—Phoebe, quit it! Stop asking questions and let me explain! Gideon came down and trapped us in a magical cage—yes, we tried a spell and it didn't work..." She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, he went upstairs and tried to murder Chris!" There was a loud, panicky noise on the other end of the phone. "Yeah, he's fine now. You sure it can't wait? But...okay, okay! I get it!" She sighed and turned to Chris. "She wants to talk to you," she said.

Chris picked up the phone, wondering if telepaths could read minds over the phone. He stared at the buttons for a moment before deciding it was best to talk to her. "Hello?" he asked feebly. He barely knew the woman! He barely knew any of them! What would he say? How's the weather, is Mel all right after the demon attack?

"Oh, Chris...it's good to hear your voice. What happened? Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, fine." Yeah, right. Besides the fact that he murdered a man and that he was basically scarred for life meant nothing.

"You don't sound fine. What happened?" she repeated.

Chris swallowed. He really didn't want to relive this quite yet. He was still a little shocked himself. "Uh...Gideon attacked."

"You poor thing..." she said sorrowfully. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

Why did everyone keep saying sorry? There was nothing to apologize for! "It doesn't matter. He's dead." He handed the phone to Paige without saying good-bye or waiting for her reaction.

"Hello?" asked Paige. "No, he just gave me the phone. I'll explain later. Meet us at the restaurant? Good. See ya there." She hung up the phone, giving Chris a concerned look. Finally, she shut up. Now he could tune into Leo again...

'Paige should've told me about all of his powers. As soon as this lunch thing is over...Uh-oh, gotta make a left here. It's so weird driving these cars instead of those old clunky things from the forties...'

The rest of his thoughts were about how he couldn't believe that he'd almost lost Chris to Gideon again. So, it was true. His past self had been killed by the man that he murdered.

And this was all the proof he needed to know that this timeline was as awry as the elders had predicted. They were right. Chris was definitely a lot more powerful in this time. If a twenty-three-year-old Chris couldn't defend himself, why should a nine-year-old one be able to kill a man?

Maybe Gideon's arrival was fate. Maybe Chris was supposed to be murdered.

The car stopped in the parking lot of a restaurant with big, bright lettering on it. Chris had never been to a restaurant before. He would've been excited...but there was too much on his mind.

"Table for eight, please," said Paige after they got inside. Chris followed a lady to a table and they sat down. He put a napkin on his lap—Sammy always used to remind him to do that—and stared at it.

The fact that there was another Sammy—er, Phil—no, CAM—was a little disturbing. His idol, his role model...was a TWIN. There were two of them. And they were both going to help him.

But what help could they offer when he was supposed to be dead?

He'd never been in life-threatening situations before this week. Well, there had been two times before. One, of course, when the bounty-hunter first came after him. He smiled at the second, remembering. One of the girls at the orphanage was ten when he was four, and she jokingly dared him to climb on the roof. He took the instructions literally and climbed up in the middle of the night—and got stuck. He didn't know how he got down. Chris couldn't remember it. It was Sammy's favorite tale to tell, so that's how he knew. But the girl had been adopted three years later and Chris never knew what really happened that day.

Now he'd evaded death by a mysterious illness, a bounty-hunter, a bridge (twice), and a hostile, delusional elder.

The more he thought about it, the more he considered that it could be meant to be.

"Phoebe—" said Piper. She was cut off immediately by Phoebe's rambling in panic.

"Oh my god...what happened? Gideon AGAIN? I don't believe this! We're going to have to elder-proof our own homes!"

"Phoebe, we're in public," Jason warned.

Phoebe sighed, hushing her voice. "I can't believe he'd do this. Demons we can take. Warlocks, wizards, evil dudes...but an ELDER? I just don't understand it."

Chris scrambled his thoughts upon her arrival, something he was pretty confident in doing now that he had telepathy on his side.

"Are you all right?" asked Phoebe, concerned. "That sounded pretty intense."

It was apparent she was trying to read his thoughts, but by the puzzled expression on her face it was also apparent that she was failing to do so. "I'm fine," he lied, hoping she wouldn't realize why she couldn't read him.

"I'm glad everything's okay. I'm sorry we weren't there to help," she repeated for the umpteenth time that day.

Jason ushered her into her seat, trying once again to hush her. Mel followed, giving Chris a curious look. He tried to smile at her but couldn't bring himself to. _Scramble, scramble, scramble_, he thought. Maybe telepathy wouldn't be so bad. If he kept scrambling his thoughts like this, there'd be nothing for Phoebe to intrude on.

Until more powers came, at least.

He shuddered at that last thought. The food had arrived and he could occupy his twitchy hands with that in the meantime. The rest of them were discussing the attack in hushed voices. Wyatt was trying to coax Mel into eating her sandwich, but she was shaking her head with a pout.

_Scramble, scramble, scramble_. He stabbed the noodles with his fork and then quickly put it down. Stabbing could kill somebody. Just like he killed Gideon. _Scramble, scramble, scramble_.

He stared at his plate for a moment but realized that he ought to eat. They were being so kind and spending money on him; the least he could do was try to enjoy it.

He got about halfway through when he felt positively sick, always think _Scramble, scramble, scramble_. It was a tiring business. He wished that Phoebe would just leave already!

Suddenly he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. Phoebe was staring at him, eyes glazed over. "Um, Phoebe?" he asked tentatively, all the while thinking even harder, _SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE!_

"Huh? Oh, sorry honey, I guess I was....daydreaming," she lied. Chris didn't need to read her thoughts to know that she was lying. Which brought him to another idea: Could he read her mind and scramble his thoughts at the same time?

He tried it on Wyatt first, considering he was a non-telepath and should be easier.

_This is so crazy...It's like a weird dream or something. Aw, c'mon! Mel thinks I can't SEE her putting that food on the floor?!_

"Mel..." warned Wyatt.

Well, it had worked on Wyatt. He tried Mel.

_Yucky! I don't like this. Yucky!!!!_

Once more to check, he tried Paige.

_I can't believe Leo. Why's he so concerned about Chris' powers anyway? Does he actually BELIEVE the other elders now?!_

His stomach seemed to sink. He almost let himself forget what Leo was thinking about him. Concentrating hard on scramble his thoughts, he focused on Phoebe.

They stared at each other, eyes both glazed. The intensity of their gaze seemed to create energy between them, building and building until it was about to burst—

"Eek!" Phoebe yelped and Chris squealed, both holding their foreheads.

"Ow..." Phoebe moaned, rubbing her temples. Chris winced.

"What?" asked Piper, panicking. "What happened? Are you guys okay?"

"Fine," said Phoebe vaguely, looking at Chris.

Chris nodded. "Me too."

"Must have been some...funny magic thingy..." Phoebe suggested lamely.

"Are you sure you're both okay? The whole restaurant turned around!" Paige joked.

"Mm-hm," said Phoebe.

Chris was staring at his hands, his barrier destroyed. He was exhausted. But he was too frantic to even think about sleeping. That electric discharge....HE'D done that!

And as Jason quickly requested a check and they walked to the car, Chris couldn't help but think, _I am a monster._

* * *

Leo turned off the lamp light, watching the two boys sleep. He smiled to himself. After a year had passed since baby Chris' disappearance, he never thought he'd be able to read them a bedtime story together until their eyelids drooped and they fell into dreamland.

It was nice. But he was worried—and that's why he needed to find Paige.

He didn't know that when he closed the door, Chris stirred.

When he walked down the stairs, he was surprised to see Phoebe and Paige sitting in the kitchen, almost acting as if they expected him. Phoebe looked a little shaken as they both were sipping coffee, staring at him come down.

"Hi..." he said, puzzled. "Phoebe...?"

"Hey. Just thought I'd hang around for a little bit," she explained. She took another sip out of the mug.

"I guess we've got things to discuss," said Paige, staring at the brownish liquid. She really, really didn't want to have this conversation, but she and Phoebe knew that Leo would find out sooner or later. Piper was asleep upstairs and this was obviously the best time, especially now that they didn't have an excuse to get out of it.

"Yeah," said Leo after awhile. "You know how I've been wondering about...Chris' powers and all. I just want to know," he added quickly.

"He's pretty powerful," said Paige blankly.

"You said that yesterday," Leo pointed out. "What exactly are his powers?"

Paige took in a deep breath. "I can't explain it, Leo. But you have to promise me that whatever you do, you will treat him the same as you treat Wyatt. What's happening to him—he can't control it. It's not his fault."

"He's scared, Leo," Phoebe added. "Really scared."

"You guys...why would you ever think I'd treat him differently? I just want to know what his powers are."

"Right." Paige cleared her throat. "I'll start with the ones that Chris had in the last timeline: telekinesis and orbing."

"We knew he had those from the start," Leo reminded her.

"Yeah, we know," said Phoebe.

Paige continued. "Yeah, well, when I was testing him, there was more. He can freeze things like Piper. And that means it's only a matter of time before he can blow things up like Wyatt can."

Leo grinned in pride. "He always did take after his mother."

"Yeah, but besides the impatience and stubbornness, he took after you in both timelines," said Phoebe. "And that's why we think he'll be okay."

"So that's it, right?" asked Leo. "I mean, the powers."

Paige looked down, not facing him. "No. There's more."

"What?"

"I said there's more. You heard me. Remember what we talked about, Leo," she said warningly. "He can see for great distances and in the dark. That's why he was able to see you that one time at the orphanage. He was just coming into his more advanced powers then, and he was pretty frazzled."

"Wow...I thought him seeing me was instinct."

"It was. He saw you before he saw anything else with the power, and I'm assuming that's because of the connection between you."

"Oh."

"And he has another power, too." Paige braced herself for his reaction, but there wasn't one. "You know how I was talking about that Herman kid? How Chris was hurt? It turns out he got burned pretty badly. I didn't want to alarm you guys, so I only told Phoebe. But you know what, Leo? He takes after you more than you know. He HEALED himself, right there outside the classroom waiting for me."

"You're kidding!" Leo said excitedly. Then his smile faded. "But he shouldn't be able to..."

"Yes, he should. Leo..." Phoebe was on the verge of tears. "The boys summoned older Chris back from the dead. Only Piper and Wyatt and our Chris saw him. He said that it must be the evening out of powers." She turned to Paige, who nodded. Phoebe continued. "We have a theory. Maybe he was right. In this timeline, Chris has the responsibility of the powers because he can handle them."

"You...you summoned Chris?" he asked faintly. "And you didn't tell me?"

Phoebe leaned in and hugged him. "We all missed him, Leo. And we all wanted to see him. But it would just cause too much pain. You know that."

Leo nodded, trying to stop his eyes from watering. Now he had another problem on his hands.

"And Leo? You know when Chris and I both hurt our heads at the same time during lunch?"

Leo looked up and stared at Phoebe quizzically. "Yeah...why do you ask?"

"Because that was no coincidence. I was trying to read his thoughts and all I was picking up was 'scramble, scramble, scramble.' He was scrambling his thoughts so I couldn't read them! Then I realized that he was staring at me, too, and it all started to make sense. Leo," she said gently, "Chris can read minds."

Leo didn't reply.

"We both blocked our thoughts, sending electric waves between each other until they finally burst and smacked us both."

Leo was silent.

"Leo...."

"Maybe—" Leo managed to choke out, in denial, "maybe the elders were right. Maybe Chris was too powerful. He could end up like Wyatt. Evil."

"Leo, how could you say that?!" Paige nearly shrieked. "He's scared! He's only a little boy and all of a sudden he's been torn away from the life he ever knew!" Hot tears of frustration and passion formed, but she didn't acknowledge them. "I know what it's like, feeling like you're a freak. I mean, I was twenty-two when you guys found me, and I was scared to death! And he's only nine years old! All of his friends—who are more a family to him then we are, whether we like it or not—think he's dead! He's starting a new life and he doesn't know anything about it. He's lost. He's scared. He's confused. But I know he can do this."

"She's right, Leo," Phoebe argued. "I can't believe you'd say that. Do you know what? He's even more frightened then we'd think. I'm the empath, trust me. And he blames himself for Gideon's death and the bounty hunter coming. He thinks he's a monster because of all of his powers. Can't you see that?"

A tear rolled down Leo's cheek. "I know. I'm scared, too. I just want...my boys to be okay."

Phoebe sighed, hugging him again. "Who said that they weren't okay?"

They were so busy talking earlier that they didn't hear the front door slam.

* * *

_"Ready?" asked an evil Leo in a mirror. Chris looked around his dream. He knew this was a dream—another memory, most likely—so he couldn't be seen. He appeared to be in an underground place, and it looked wicked and scary. A little baby was in a magical cage next to him and he recognized him immediately as little Wyatt._

_"Yeah," said good Leo, "buy you can't do anything—I have to do this alone." He turned to an important looking man—Gideon—who was on the floor by the mirror in which the evil looking Leo was speaking._

_"I know," evil Leo agreed._

_"Do what?" asked Gideon, seeming to twitch a bit._

_"A great evil."_

_Chris suddenly realized what was happening. He didn't know how he knew. He was granted the knowledge in the dream: of the sisters fighting themselves in a parallel world, causing them to be unbalanced; Chris dying and Leo avenging his death, while at the same time killing Gideon to restore balance. It all made sense._

_But the knowledge of that didn't make it any easier to watch his normally calm, kind father raise his hands up in the air with a sick, merciless look across his face and blow Gideon to smithereens as he howled in horror and pain._

* * *

Chris stirred in his sleep, waking up shaking. He gasped, remembering the dream. He needed to go downstairs. He needed to find Leo and make sure he was still good—just seeing Leo and knowing that the nightmare wasn't still real would be enough to console him.

He headed down the stairs and heard voices.

"We both blocked our thoughts, sending electric waves between each other until they finally burst and smacked us both."

It was Phoebe's voice. Chris stifled a cry—he knew that she was talking about him.

Leo was silent, his head held down. Chris felt his insides ache. Why did he look so worried, so ashamed?

"Leo...."

"Maybe—" Leo managed to choke out, in denial, "maybe the elders were right. Maybe Chris was too powerful. He could end up like Wyatt. Evil."

Chris stared at the three of them in horror. He stood there in shock for about ten seconds before doing the only thing that made sense:

Run.

He opened the front door, slammed it shut, and ran out into the night.

* * *

Man, that was LOOOONG.

PLZ REVIEW! I worked very hard on this chappie!

--Pink-Charmed-One--


	13. Battle Scar

A Future Remolded

Final Chapter 

Disclaimer: (sighs) The story's over and I still don't own Charmed. Aw....

FINAL CHAPPIE—DEAL WITH IT!!

* * *

Tears ran down his cheeks as he ran. Puddles splashed at his feet and the light rain from that afternoon had turned into a ferocious storm, water pounding on his head. His hand-me-downs were soaked but he didn't notice, sloshing through the dark, empty San Francisco roads. He saw a pair of headlights a half a mile away with his extraordinary vision and jumped out of the way, running into an alley.

When he stopped he gasped for air as his body wracked with angry, frustrated sobs. He didn't belong anywhere. He was a freak at the orphanage and a monster with this new family. All he wanted to do was crawl into a hole and cease to exist. Everything he did was wrong, wrong, wrong. He only caused trouble.

The car had passed now. He peeked out of the alley, eyes still blurry with tears, and tried to make sense of the signs. He knew he was miles away from the Halliwell manor by now, though he had no idea what direction he'd gone in. It wasn't hard for him. Even at the orphanage, he'd always been the quickest and fastest.

Now he seemed to be completely lost. The street names were utterly unrecognizable and foreign to him. He let out another muffled sob before he tore off into the streets again.

How could Leo say that about him? He trusted him. Chris had trusted that Leo understood. If he hadn't understood, why did he heal Chris in the first place? Let him live, give him a home, love him like Wyatt?

Maybe he was lying. Maybe Chris wasn't his son at all! Maybe Leo was evil and was trying to turn Chris evil, too! And Wyatt and Mel!

But Piper and Phoebe and Paige were such nice people. Could they be in on it, too? No, he decided. He was jumping to conclusions. Leo wasn't evil, he was just stupid.

And besides. He'd met himself before he was killed in a different life. He knew that that Chris wasn't fake; he felt the connection right away. Plus, his dreams were obviously real. Wyatt was definitely his brother. So what was he supposed to do? Just sit here? Maybe he could go back to orphanage, lie and pretend that he was alive and the doctors brought him back to life. Tears welled in his eyes and feel freely. There was no way he could make them believe that they'd brought a dead person back to life.

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. There was a building to his left on the sidewalk. He crossed over to it and traced a finger along the brick walls, then gasped as a memory flooded through him.

* * *

A boy, nine years old, stood in front of the building. He was wearing a blue-striped shirt and Gap pants similar to Wyatt's, Chris noted. He had brown hair. Chris tried to see the boy's face, but couldn't since he was behind him.

"Who are you?" Chris whispered.

The boy didn't answer. He traced a finger on the brick wall as Chris had a moment ago and sniffled, rubbing a burn mark on his arm.

Then Chris looked around. It was daylight, but everything was black and white. It was another memory from the first timeline, he realized. And it was terrifying. Shattered glass lay around the street, the buildings were damaged and it seemed the entire city was wilting and depressed. Sirens wailed vaguely in the distance but otherwise it was eerily quiet.

He looked down at the streets and saw people laying all over, motionless.

Dead.

The boy finally moved, limping in through the front door of the building. The place was empty, run-down, looking as if it might collapse at any given moment. But the boy walked on, shivering in the cold, until he came upon the remnants of an elevator. He hit the "up" button and waited for it to come.

Chris was surprised the elevator was working with things in this state, but he was too curious about the boy to say anything.

"Who are you?" he repeated.

To his shock, the boy turned to him. His face was identical to Chris', brown hair, big brown eyes filled with fright. But there was a bleeding gash on his left cheek.

"I knew you'd come," said the boy. "You're me."

"But...how can you hear me?" asked Chris.

"I'm showing you what might have been. You saved the world. WE saved the world," he added.

"But...you're dead."

"Not here. I live forever in my memories," said the boy wistfully. "The ghost of this time. My spirit, older Chris, moved on. You saw him. But I stayed here to protect our time. I am Chris. I am you. I've been showing you and Wyatt fragments of our pasts to make sure that the memory never dies away. The past should never be forgotten...I am now the keeper of time. I keep it safe through you and Wyatt."

"Thank you," Chris found himself whisper.

"No, thank you. You're the chosen one. You have the power I was supposed to have." The boy looked down. "You want to know why Wyatt was so almighty in my time? He stole my powers and used them for evil."

Chris didn't say anything.

"I had much more power, right from the start. That's because we were able to handle it. The only ones able to handle it. There was too much good magic floating free in the atmosphere and it lodged itself in us since we were the ones that were worthy, not Wyatt." He paused. "The power drove him mad."

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right now. Remember that."

Chris nodded and felt the wind hit him hard, pulling him back.

* * *

When he opened his eyes he was sprawled out on the tile floor of the building. It was night and still raining, and the color had returned. His hand flew up to his left cheek and he felt the trickle of warm blood on his fingers. Just like the boy.

The back of his head throbbed from his fall. He groaned, rubbing it, and stood up. His body shook all over. Whatever that was had just drained him of his energy completely. He took in a shuddering breath, remembering the information. So...he was a chosen for this power?

Then didn't the elders REALIZE that? Why were they so eager to get rid of him?

And then it hit him. The keeper of time, his replica, had said that Wyatt stole his powers BEFORE he was nine years old. How else would the keeper know? He was only nine, too. Meaning that the element of danger was over. He'd be safe with Wyatt now, because they were both older. The elders knew that. That's why they hadn't come after him yet.

Except Gideon. But Gideon was crazy. He wanted revenge, and it came at a price.

Chris felt confident now that things would be okay. But he had another problem at hand: getting home. He walked outside and closed his eyes, willing his orbing power to work on command for once—

He choked and gasped, crying out in surprise, before he fell back on his knees and hit the concrete. He moaned, his eyes starting to blacken in pain. He'd been hit from behind by something, straight in the stomach. He felt the point of an arrow and turned around to see him.

The bounty-hunter.

"No..." Chris whispered, watching the blood gush from the wound.

"My master said he'd rather have you dead if you wouldn't cooperate," the man hissed, shimmering out.

Chris collapsed, falling unconscious on the cold ground.

* * *

_"Wyatt, I'm leaving," said the little brown-haired boy feebly. There were tears in his eyes and he was speaking to a blonde boy. "I can't stand it. You're evil and you know it! I can't sit here and watch you kill innocents!" he cried._

_Wyatt only laughed, chanting a spell. The spell became louder and the house seemed to shake. The brown haired boy screamed and leapt back, falling over onto the dresser. His head banged it and his eyes closed as he went limp on the floor. Wyatt raised his hands, cackling, as a cloud of energy burst from Chris and flew into him._

_It was powers. Chris' powers._

_"You see, Chris, things are better this way. Better when I have the power." He orbed away._

_The little boy got up, rubbing his head. "No," he moaned, "no, no, no..." He orbed, too—heading for the building of bricks in the middle of nowhere. Heading towards Bianca's apartment._

_Heading where, in another time, he'd be meeting himself in another timeline to inform his replica about the horrors of Wyatt's evil._

_There was a trickle of blood running down the gash on his left cheek._

* * *

Wyatt gasped, shooting up in bed. It was light outside, a Sunday morning. He tried to interpret the dream...and then it all came back. He stole Chris' powers when Chris was nine and he was eleven in the other timeline. He almost killed him!

He held in a short cry and shuddered.

"Wyatt! Chris! Breakfast is ready!" called Piper from downstairs.

Wyatt looked over at his little brother's bed, wondering why he wasn't awake yet. Normally Chris was up earlier than this.

But the bed was empty.

'He probably just went downstairs,' Wyatt thought. But as he went down to dinner, he felt a strong sense of foreboding. Something was wrong.

He sat down at the table. Piper had made scones and Paige and Leo and Phoebe all sat near him, waiting to eat. He found it odd that Phoebe was here without Jason and Mel, but didn't look into it.

"Where's Chris?" he asked casually.

"He's not up in your room?" asked Piper worriedly.

Wyatt shook his head. "I thought..."

"Chris!" Piper called. "Chris, where are you? Chris!" She set down the scones and headed up the stairs to find him.

Paige and Phoebe exchanged worried glances before following her. "Check the bridge," Phoebe ordered Leo, who'd gone white and pale. He nodded, orbing out.

"Chris!" Wyatt shouted, looking around downstairs when he finally came to his senses. "CHRIS!"

By now the sisters had thoroughly checked the upstairs. They came back down, frantic and panicking. There were tears in Piper's eyes.

"He's...gone," Paige choked.

Leo orbed back. "Not on the bridge," he reported. He saw the sisters' faces. "You haven't found him?" he cried.

"Sense for him!" Phoebe said urgently.

Leo complied, closing his eyes. If possible, his face went even paler. "Oh my god," he whispered. He grabbed their hands and orbed out.

* * *

Bianca pressed down on the elevator button, excited that she'd get to take a walk in the moonlight. The moonlight was the best time for phoenixes to think, to practice magic. Though she wouldn't practice magic in public on a simple walk to the park, she loved seeing the moon.

Suddenly she felt dizzy as the elevator went down. She opened her eyes. Why was everything black and white, run down and scary-looking? She blinked rapidly and the image faded, color returned, and the safety and comfort was restored. She sighed. Just another memory of that twisted timeline.

Only now she had proof it was real, meeting Chris and Wyatt.

The elevator stopped and she set foot out of it, then gasped, hiding behind a large plant.

There was a boy, crumpled up on the floor and bleeding. He was moaning in pain, a darklighter arrow wedged deep in his gut. "No..."

"My master said he'd rather have you dead if you wouldn't cooperate," hissed a horrid looking man, shimmering away.

Bianca ran up to the little boy, trying to get a look at his face. Her scream pierced the night as a thousand memories shot through her in his eyes. Her lover, her best friend, her happiness, the reason she breathed; and yet she'd never met him.

But if he died, she'd never be able to live without him.

All these feelings and knowledge she'd never realized in her life flooded her. And she knew without reason that she had to do something.

"LEO!" she shrieked. "LEO, GET IN HERE NOW!" Who was Leo? Why was she calling this name?

Oh, but she was so relieved to hear the familiar jingle and see the blue lights. But something in her snapped when she saw this man. Oh yeah...she hated him. But she stepped aside. He'd help.

"Chris..." he gasped. Time seemed to freeze. Wyatt and the Charmed Ones were beside him in shock.

"Heal him, dammit! What the hell is wrong with you?" she screamed. Whoa. She never had a vocabulary that powerful before. Wait—the arrow! That's why he couldn't heal him! She flinched, pulling out the arrow. Chris let out a low moan, but remained limp at her side.

She stood to make room for Leo, and was shocked to see the her jeans were drenched in Chris' blood. By now Lynn, her mother, had arrived.

"I saw the past in one of my visions," Lynn whispered, barely audible. Only Bianca could hear. "The replica of the Keeper of Time."

"Please be okay," Leo was sobbing.

"He heard you, Leo!" Phoebe was shrieking. "He heard us talking! He heard what you said—oh dammit, Leo, he heard every word..." Obviously, as a telepath (I mentioned that in the second chapter for those of you who forgot), she was picking up his thoughts.

Chris gasped for air and looked up at Leo, sobbing while his lungs tore. "I'm—I'm sorry—I d-didn't mean to—" He broke down in sobs.

Leo wrapped him in a hug. "It's not your fault, Chris. We love you. And I am so, so, sorry..." He took a deep breath as the tears ran down his cheeks.

The cut on Chris' was still there. It wouldn't heal. It would be a scar...a battle scar.

"I love you so much," Leo said.

"I love you too."

* * *

Sorry, folks, but that's the end! I'm going to focus on finishing two of my other stories now and maybe come up with a newer one later. I've got a pretty cool idea already, so don't worry! But I DO have to catch up on school work.

Sorry if this confused you in any way, shape, or form. My writing can be confusing sometimes! As you all know...

Thanks for all the reviews and digital baked goods!! YOU ALL ROCK!! YAY FOR YOU, YOU SPECIAL PEOPLE!

-Pink-Charmed-One-


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